![]() ![]() ![]() That’s in part because literary critics have decked Lucifer’s creator himself in red, white, and blue bunting since the 19th century. Curiously, the deeply modern Lucifer could also be considered one of the greatest characters in American literature, even though he was created more than a century before the United States was founded. Feared by Puritans, fêted by Romantics, and reinvented by everybody else, Milton’s fallen archangel has worn many different masks over the centuries, from Moby-Dick’s Captain Ahab to television’s Tony Soprano and Walter White. With a mixture of sadness and hope, Adam and Eve leave Paradise.Three hundred and fifty years ago, the poet John Milton wrote one of the greatest characters in all of British literature: Lucifer, the antagonist of the epic poem Paradise Lost. The vision shows everything that will happen to mankind, tracing events from Cain and Abel up to the redemption of sin through Jesus Christ. Before expelling them, Michael shows Adam the future-the events resulting from the original sin. God sends the Archangel Michael to escort Adam and Eve from Paradise. As soon as he finishes his victory speech, he and all his followers turn into snakes without limbs or the ability to speak. With mankind fallen, Satan returns to Hell to celebrate his triumph. On bended knee, they beg God for forgiveness. ![]() When they awake, they both feel guilt and shame for disobeying God. They fall asleep and have terrible nightmares. He chooses to eat the forbidden fruit, too, feeling bound to Eve because they are from the same flesh. He tricks Eve into eating the forbidden fruit.Īdam learns of Eve’s sin and knows that she must die. He disguises himself as a serpent, cunning and deceptive. He overhears Adam and Eve talking about the forbidden fruit. After finding Adam and Eve in Paradise, he grows jealous of them, for they have God’s favor. He journeys to Earth, tricking the angel Uriel into showing him where man lives. Meanwhile, in Hell, Satan concocts a plan to destroy man in an act of revenge. God warns that if they eat from the tree, they will die. God gives them the power to rule over all creation with only one command: They cannot eat fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. They live in Paradise, in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve begin in a close relationship with God. Eve is beautiful, intelligent, and in love with Adam she is also curious and hungry for knowledge. Lonely, Adam requests a companion, and so God makes Eve from Adam’s flesh. The Son defeats the rebels, who are cast into Hell.Īfter this civil war, God creates the first man, Adam. Satan asserts his own authority and power when he organizes a group of rebel angels against God, leading to the Angelic War, which ends in no deaths but much pain. Satan, one of God’s most cherished and powerful angels, grows angry when God creates the Son and proclaims that Son as leader. Paradise Lost recreates the biblical story of the fall of man, starting with the first fall, that of a group of rebel angels in Heaven. The poem’s ripple effect on Western culture continues 350 years after its publication, making Paradise Lost a true classic of English literature. Paradise Lost has been quoted in politics, law, and literature. ![]() Scholars have argued that Milton invented around 630 words in writing Paradise Lost, as well as new linguistic concepts like the phrase “outer space.” Although Milton and his work are controversial, Paradise Lost introduced new words and concepts to the English language. It has been alluded to in other great works of literature, such as Frankenstein, and added a new layer to Lucifer that remains culturally relevant today. Indeed, Milton succeeded in this goal, as Paradise Lost is now considered one of the greatest works of poetry ever written in the English language. Milton’s goal in writing Paradise Lost was to write an epic that would capture the spirit and environment of his own society and religion, much as Homer’s epics spoke for Greek civilization. ![]()
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