Hierarchy In Paradise Lost

“Solitude sometimes is best society” (Book IX, Line 249), a famous quote in John Milton’s 17th cen. epic poem Paradise Lost, summarizes a separation from Heaven which results in the fall of Lucifer, one of God’s fallen angels. The silent battle between God and Satan, the development of characters and the themes in the epic adds to a better overall understanding of the Milton 's poem. The work is one of literature’s most profound, giving its audience an exclusive look at fate, free will and morality. Paradise Lost contains many elements that consider it an “epic poem.” It is written in blank verse, in other words, the words do not rhyme. Milton often notes and expresses a lack of interest for rhyming poetry saying that “Rhyme is no necessary

Our universe according to Milton’s epic, is ordered, like all other scales, from least to greatest. Hell of course at the bottom, followed by Earth, finishing with Heaven at the top. Obeying God, simply means respecting his hierarchy. Satan chooses to refuses all of God’s superiority, making him reject the chart of hierarchy that was placed before him. Satan is not the sole disruptor of the hierarchical system. Adam and Eve, must take equal responsibility for corrupting the plan in various situations. God and Raphael both come to Adam and tell him that Eve is not in the same position he is, at least not in God’s sight. Eve is farther from God’s grace then Adam simply because she was created to serve them both. However, when Eve inveglies Adam to let her work alone, she starts a challenge between superiors. THEN, when Adam eats the fruit, he defies God, his OWN superior purposely. Adam later has visions that predict a continued disturbance in the hierarchy of God’s universe, but we also receive a foreshadowing of a coming Savior and his sacrifice for us, which would place the universe’s chart back in

Satan, can be viewed as the protagonist of this poem, because he deals with the constant struggle of overcoming one of his biggest enemies, himself. HE must come to terms with his doubts and weaknesses in order to become his own hero. Milton creates a character in Satan, one so seductive, that it causes us to resonate with him, sympathize his mistakes, even if it is against our own ideals. Milton’s creation of Satan is a metaphor for evil’s abilities to lure us in, even when we don’t realize it. He does however possess a complex character, a reflection of ourselves, making his role in the epic understandable and much more relatable. Satan represents human error, and his character embodies our own feelings of envy and despair. Satan is a dynamic individual that requires a closer look at ourselves, in order to begin his evaluation. Now Milton’s God, in Paradise Lost, is a underdeveloped character, simply a bundle of vast ideas. He is not a character that can be related to, lacking emotion. He is Flat, a 2 dimensional static individual with no depth whatsoever. He narrates, explains why things occur the way they do. God allows the bad to exist by offering his Son as sacrifice. The son is the connection between God and Milton’s