Jesse C Blanca Dr.

Christoph Greger English 46A Fall 09 2nd Essay Satans Loss

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Paradise Lost is an epic that does connote a typical lineup of protagonist, and antagonist to usher the tale. John Milton formula uses the fundamental heroic tangent to establish the consequences of sin. What constitutes sin, and the source of such mandate, is in itself a cause for higher debate. Under the canons of Christian lore, sin is a consequence of an action, a derided fiat that uses the soul as legal tender. What is at stake for all the players in the poem is ownership of self, and for some recompense, is mute. Is this the Region, this the Soil, the Clime, Said then the lost Arch-Angel, this the seat [243] That we must change for Heav'n, this mournful gloom For that celestial light? Is this the Region, this the Soil, the Clime Thus Satan spoke of a malleable Hell in which lines arouse such dulcet tone that say much more of Satans zeal. In dire circumstances enterprise persists, that we must change for Heavn, this mournful gloom, and for sake of the minds eye that celestial light a parallax. Be it so, since he [ 245 ] Who now is Sovran can dispose and bid What shall be right: fardest from him is best Whom reason hath equald, force hath made supream Above his equals. Farewel happy Fields Be it so, since he who now is Sovran So says Satans proem alluding to a time when a seraphim of the highest order was property. A fallen Angels articulation of emancipation, although without wings remained volant. Satans desire of knowledge; to question blind obedience developed beyond muted discourse. A debate to which elusion from equivocation would muster a sadistic wrath, enthrall by Gods whim. Scorn from contempt, from a progenitor who could not stand ground on wit alone having to resort to force.

Where Joy for ever dwells: Hail horrours, hail [ 250 ] Infernal world, and thou profoundest Hell Receive thy new Possessor, One who brings A mind not to be chang'd by Place or Time. The mind is its own place, and in it self Can make a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell of Heav'n. [ 255 ]

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..thou profoundest Hell, Receive thy new Possessor On claiming Hell, Satan states what qualities brought unto the dominion, One who brings a mind, not a welkin eremite dispatch by God. Whose mind not to be changd by Place or Time possessing a quintessential brevity of an enlightened being. An awareness of self where in wit and cunning can make a Heavn of Hell, a Hell of Heavn [255] and here lays the equalizing force. Satans knowledge of the mind transcending time and space is an acknowledgement of existing not only of form but in mind as well. An empirical abstraction not just from a tangible existence, but likewise in Spirit. This Spirit is Satans cataphract, an a priori coat of arms that proved Gods ambiguity. That if you can think of it, you can think of it not! This loophole in Gods authority will have a price in form and existence for which Satan will serve a term adinfinitum. Which way I flie is Hell; my self am Hell; And in the lowest deep a lower deep Still threatning to devour me opens wide, To which the Hell I suffer seems a Heav'n. Thus, Satans somber self-admonition weaves for us all the caustic strings attached to heavy shoulders. An empirical injunction from the all mighty, that even the champion of angels is not above reproach. Satans very instance of being is punishment for even in mind solace is not possible. Yet, under the weight of wretchedness, this instance of misery and total despair Satan found a cathartic heart. A macabre pillar of contemplation personifying a being in deep meditative state, for deep within this pandemonium is Satans very own constant.

What matter where, if I be still the same, And what I should be, all but less then he

Whom Thunder hath made greater? Here at least We shall be free; th' Almighty hath not built Here for his envy, will not drive us hence: [ 260 ] Here we may reign secure, and in my choyce To reign is worth ambition though in Hell: Better to reign in Hell, then serve in Heav'n.

Blanca 3 To reign is worth ambition though in Hell: Better to reign in Hell, then serve in Heav'n This resolve in transit set the tone for Satans role in the epic poem as the vessel of unresolved desire, ambition and enterprise the symptom of one who brings a mind (book 1, Line 252). As the first protagonist for Paradise Lost, Satans role is to cast justification for Gods action later in the poem. As the unsuspecting pawn of a sadistic trick to lay afoot the warrant for eviction, Satans only flaw is to aspire to become more. Thence in medeas res do Satan imbue all the literal symbology of aspiration, a conditional allegory of consequence. Even in name Satan literally means adversary, a posted totem in the English language that carried all that is known to be evil. In name, Satan wears the dunce cap to signal disgrace, and the part that will be played. Thus, the antic begins only after the pawn played the part, but even pawns play for something. Satans plight is mired deep in classical slave narrative, as would Satan being born into a plantation yearning to break free. Preclusion to banishment in the segregated social-strata of Heaven has, but one caveat; do not question the status quo. An explicit inference for only sheep could live in Paradise, and bellwethers that wander suffer. A plight that states in evil we find desire, ambition, hope, dream, and that yearning to pursue a course of selfimportance. Lucifers acumen led to Satans birth a burden that bore a linguistic straightjacket. It stand not to reason for readers of Paradise Lost to simply relinquish cause in absolute dichotomy. For if a being, aspire to become anything more than would have effectively walked on Satans Footstep. Book 1 seeds to the reader the syllogism of Satan, a pawn in Gods grand scheme, and the scapegoat for Mans polar tendencies. A repository of all Human ills and vices in order to validate Gods heavenly fallacy. Satans price for a free mind warranted discipline to sty in a state of imprisonment. The crux of this epic poem lay in this monumental domestic dispute, as the progeny aspire to become equal. The very instance of God cannot allow the evocation of a contradiction and yet it happened. For in mere thought, the notion of believing to be something more than as it were in Caste alone, evokes a contradiction. In nature, we find birth and death as evidently constant, the ascension of the son to take the fathers place. In the realm of the divine, perfection cannot have such a system. God needed a red herring and in Lucifers naivet the answer materialized.

Blanca 4 Heaven and hell evolved diachronically into the one metaphorical real estate to house rights and wrongs, good and evil! Whether the diametrical value of good and evil can be epistemically validated in absolute terms can be illusive. For even angels in good standing commit murder, therefore action posses no credence in absolute terms. What is good, and what is evil may outline the threshold of Miltons Christian construct but it is mottled with many gray areas. Simply its a scale schema, in which an oligarchy can justify action by moving the threshold accordingly. Miltons monotheistic God presides over the thrones of thrones, over the monarchy of heaven and as with Book ones first appraisal in a crossroads. What of heaven, if by the very definition of harmony could turmoil be stirred? Say first, for Heav'n hides nothing from thy view [27] Nor the deep Tract of Hell, say first what cause Mov'd our Grand Parents in that happy State, Favour'd of Heav'n so highly, to fall off From thir Creator, and transgress his Will [31] Yet Gods omniscient qualities failed from the very first stanzas, and if this fallacy would remain true God as an omnipotent, omnipresence, omniscient being is nullified. Yet, Milton defined Paradise Lost in thematic polarity, the conflict between two exclusive dominion incarnating two absolute values. Being omniscient would forecast such events, therefore the canonical axiom of heavenly order can be moved accordingly allowing Satans rise to power. At least for the sake of Miltons poem would necessarily have to be true otherwise, the all knowing, all powerful, that exist everywhere could have easily thwarted or not allow of such desire to exist. After all God made Satan! In Satans enterprise God found the escape clause to explain what contradicts divine authority, for it was not mans paradise that was lost, it was Satans!

Sources: Milton, John (Paradise Lost; Book One)