Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the English poet John Milton (1608–1674). The poem concerns the biblical story of the fall of man: the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. The first version, published in 1667, consists of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse. A second edition followed in 1674, arranged into twelve books (in the manner of Virgil's Aeneid) with minor revisions throughout. It is considered to be Milton's masterpiece, and it helped solidify his reputation as one of the greatest English poets.
At the heart of Paradise Lost are the themes of free will and the moral consequences of disobedience. Milton seeks to "justify the ways of God to men" (1.20), addressing questions of predestination, human agency, and the nature of good and evil. The poem begins in medias res, with Satan and his fallen angels cast into Hell after their failed rebellion against God. Milton's Satan, portrayed with both grandeur and tragic ambition, is one of the most complex and debated characters in literary history, particularly for his perceived heroism by some readers.
The poem's portrayal of Adam and Eve emphasises their humanity, exploring their innocence, before the Fall of Man, as well as their subsequent awareness of sin. Through their story, Milton reflects on the complexities of human relationships, the tension between individual freedom and obedience to divine law, and the possibility of redemption. Despite their transgression, the poem ends on a note of hope, as Adam and Eve leave Paradise with the promise of salvation through Christ.
Milton's epic has been praised for its linguistic richness, theological depth, and philosophical ambition. However, it has also sparked controversy, particularly for its portrayal of Satan, whom some readers interpret as a heroic or sympathetic figure. Paradise Lost continues to inspire scholars, writers, and artists, remaining a cornerstone of literary and theological discourse.
Synopsis The poem follows the epic tradition of plunging in medias res (), the background story being recounted later.
Milton's story has two narrative arcs, one about Satan (Lucifer) and the other about Adam and Eve. It begins after Satan and the other fallen angels have been defeated and banished to Hell, or, as it is also called in the poem, Tartarus. In Pandæmonium, the capital city of Hell, Satan employs his rhetorical skill to organise his followers; he is aided by Beelzebub; Moloch, Belial, and Mammon are also present. At the end of the debate, Satan volunteers to corrupt the newly created Earth and God's new and most favoured creation, Mankind. He braves the dangers of the Abyss alone, in a manner reminiscent of Odysseus or the Argonauts. After an arduous traversal through the Chaos outside Hell, he arrives at God's new material World.
God in Heaven foresees Satan's success in causing the fall of Man. However, since mankind's fall will be caused by a deception, (unlike how the fallen angels fell by their own cause), God offers mankind redemption. He calls for a volunteer, and the Son of God offers himself to die to man's sin. The narrative then returns to Satan, who continues his journey through God's Universe, eventually arriving at the Garden of Eden. Satan is later discovered by Eden's angelic guards, and God prevents their destructive battle by weighing its outcome in the sky – Satan beholds that he will lose this fight, so he flees.
An Angelic War over Heaven is recounted by the Archangel Raphael from different perspectives. Satan's rebellion follows the epic convention of large-scale warfare. The battles between the faithful angels and Satan's forces take place over three days. At the final battle, the Son of God single-handedly defeats the entire legion of angelic rebels and banishes them from Heaven. Following their expulsion, God creates the Universe, culminating in his creation of Adam and Eve. While God gave Adam and Eve total freedom and power to rule over the Earth, he gave them one explicit command: not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil on penalty of death.
Adam and Eve are presented as having a romantic and sexual relationship while still being without sin. They have passions and distinct personalities. Satan, having returned to the Garden, possessing and disguised in the body of a serpent, successfully tempts Eve to eat from the Tree by preying on her vanity and tricking her with rhetoric. Adam, learning that Eve has sinned, knowingly commits the same sin. He declares to Eve that since she was made from his flesh, they are bound to one another – if she dies, he must also die. In this manner, Milton portrays Adam as a heroic figure, but also as a greater sinner than Eve, as he is aware that what he is doing is wrong.
After eating the fruit, Adam and Eve experience lust for the first time, which renders their next sexual encounter with one another more passionate. At first, Adam is convinced that Eve was right in thinking that eating the fruit would be beneficial. However, they soon fall asleep and have terrible nightmares, and after they awake, they experience guilt and shame for the first time. Realising that they have committed a terrible act against God, they engage in mutual recrimination.
Meanwhile, Satan returns triumphantly to Hell, amid the praise of his fellow fallen angels. He tells them about how their scheme worked and Mankind has fallen, giving them complete dominion over the Earth. As he finishes his speech, however, the fallen angels around him become snakes, and soon enough, Satan himself turns into a snake, deprived of limbs and unable to talk. Thus, they share the same punishment, as they shared the same guilt.
Eve appeals to Adam for reconciliation of their actions. Her encouragement enables them to approach God, and plead for forgiveness. In a vision shown to him by the Archangel Michael, Adam witnesses everything that will happen to Mankind until the Great Flood. Adam is very upset by this vision of the future, so Michael also tells him about Mankind's potential redemption from original sin through Jesus Christ (whom Michael calls "King Messiah"). Adam and Eve are cast out of Eden, and Michael says that Adam may find "a paradise within thee, happier far". Adam and Eve now have a more distant relationship with God, who is omnipresent but invisible (unlike the tangible Father in the Garden of Eden).
Composition
It is uncertain when Milton composed Paradise Lost. John Aubrey (1626–1697), Milton's contemporary and biographer, says that it was written between 1658 and 1663. However, parts of the poem had likely been in development since Milton was young. Having gone blind in 1652, Milton wrote Paradise Lost entirely through dictation with the help of amanuenses and friends. He was often ill, suffering from gout, and suffering emotionally after the early death of his second wife, Katherine Woodcock, in 1658, and their infant daughter.Abrahm, M. H., Stephen Greenblatt, eds. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. New York: Norton, 2000. The image of Milton dictating the poem to his daughters became a popular subject for paintings, especially in the Romantic period.
Milton scholar John Leonard notes that Milton "did not at first plan to write a biblical epic". Since epics were typically written about heroic kings and queens (and with pagan gods), Milton originally envisioned his epic to be based on a legendary Saxon or British king like the legend of King Arthur. Leonard speculates that the English Civil War interrupted Milton's earliest attempts to start his "epic [poem] that would encompass all space and time".
Publication The 1667 version of Paradise Lost divided the poem into ten books. However, in the 1674 edition, the text was reorganised into twelve books. Later printings inserted "Arguments" (brief summaries) at the beginning of each book. Milton's previous work had been printed by Matthew Simmons who was favoured by radical writers. However, he died in 1654 and the business was then run by Mary Simmons. Milton had not published work with the Simmons printing business for twenty years. Mary was increasingly relying on her son Samuel to help her manage the business and the first book that Samuel Simmons registered for publication in his name was Paradise Lost in 1667.
Style
Biblical epic
Key to the ambitions of Paradise Lost as a poem is the creation of a new kind of epic, one suitable for English, Christian morality rather than polytheistic Greek or Roman antiquity. This intention is indicated from the very beginning of the poem, when Milton uses the classical epic poetic device of an invocation for poetic inspiration. Rather than invoking the classical muses, however, Milton addresses the Christian God as his "Heav'nly Muse" (1.1). Other classical epic conventions include an in medias res opening, a journey in the underworld, large-scale battles, and an elevated poetic style. In particular, the poem often uses Homeric similes. Milton repurposes these epic conventions to create a new biblical epic, promoting a different kind of hero. Classical epic heroes like Achilles, Odysseus, and Aeneas were presented in the Iliad, Odyssey, and Aeneid as heroes for their military strength and guile, which might go hand in hand with wrath, pride, or lust. Milton attributes these traits instead to Satan, and depicts the Son as heroic for his love, mercy, humility, and self-sacrifice. The poem itself therefore presents the value system of classical heroism as one which has been superseded by Christian virtue.
Blank verse
The poem is written in blank verse, meaning the lines are metrically regular iambic pentameter but they do not rhyme. Milton used the flexibility of blank verse to support a high level of syntactic complexity. Although Milton was not the first to use blank verse, his use of it was very influential and he became known for the style. Blank verse was not much used in the non-dramatic poetry of the 17th century until Paradise Lost. Milton also wrote Paradise Regained (1671) and parts of Samson Agonistes (1671) in blank verse. Miltonic blank verse became the standard for those attempting to write English epics for centuries following the publication of Paradise Lost and his later poetry..
When Miltonic verse became popular, Samuel Johnson mocked Milton for inspiring bad blank verse imitators.. Alexander Pope's final, incomplete work was intended to be written in the form,. and John Keats, who complained that he relied too heavily on Milton,. adopted and picked up various aspects of his poetry.
Acrostics Milton used a number of acrostics in the poem. In Book 9, a verse describing the serpent which tempted Eve to eat the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden spells out "SATAN" (9.510), while elsewhere in the same book, Milton spells out "FFAALL" and "FALL" (9.333). Respectively, these probably represent the double fall of humanity embodied in Adam and Eve, as well as Satan's fall from Heaven.
Double syntax Milton infuses double syntax and ambiguous meaning into his writing through Paradise Lost. He achieves this through various methods such as using enjambment to alter the way the first half of a sentence might be interpreted before the line break. For example, in book 9 Milton writes of Adam awaiting Eve's return "Great joy he promised to his thoughts, and new/ Solace in her return..." (9.843-844). The lack of an end-stop after the word "new" gives the impression that it modifies "thoughts" implying he will be given "new" "thoughts", not "new/ Solace..." as the finished sentence reveals. This foreshadows Eve's return, having eaten fruit from the forbidden Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and Adam's eventual assent to eating the fruit as well.
Characters Satan