What does Book I of Paradise Lost tell us of the theme of this epic? (b) What picture does Milton present of the angels in revolt?
The theme of Paradise Lost is stated clearly and unambiguously in the very opening passages (Lines 1-26 and Lines 27-49) of the poem. Milton proposes to deal with "man's first disobedience" and the woeful consequences of his tasting the fruit of the forbidden tree. By his treatment of this subject he wishes "to assert Eternal Providence, and justify the ways of God to men". Milton chooses a biblical subject for his epic. The subject- matter is obviously to be derived from the opening chapters of Genesis which, as Milton points out, were written by Moses. "that shepherd who first taught the chosen seed in the beginning how the Heavens and Earth rose out of Chaos". Milton considers his subject to be more elevated than those dealt with by Homer and Virgil in their epic poems. That is why he says that his poem will "soar above the Aonian Mount, while it pursues things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme." In order to achieve his object, Milton seeks the help not of the classical Muses but of the "Heavenly Muse" (to whom afterwards in the poem he gives the name "Urania"). The motive prompting the poet to deal with this theme is very exalted. He wants to establish the essential justice of God's dealings with human beings, in order obviously to dispel the doubts people often entertain regarding the moral order in this universe. (Subsequently Alexander Pope wrote his Essay On Man with the same object). Milton thus embarks upon a noble task to show his own deeply religious views as also to convince the doubting Thomases among mankind. Milton also here refers to "one greater Man" who was to redeem mankind.
Having introduced us briefly to his subject in the first twenty-six lines, Milton refers to the prime cause of the fall of our grand parents. "Who first seduced them to that foul revolt ?" asks Milton with reference to Adam and Eve's disobedience of God's command not to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree. His answer to this question is: "the infernal Serpent". It was Satan who, prompted by feelings of envy and revenge, deceived Eve. Satan, swollen with his excessive pride, aspired to usurp "the throne and monarchy of God", and for this reason started an "impious war" in Heaven. Satan failed in his purpose. He was driven out of Heaven with all his followers and thrown down "to bottomless perdition, there to dwell in adamantine chains and penal fire" for having defied the Omnipotent.
(b) Although Satan himself rises to heroic grandeur at certain places in Book I, his followers have, on the whole, been depicted as a wretched and miserable lot. Because of the fall from Heaven, Satan and his horrid crew lie on the fiery lake of Hell, feeling "confounded though immortal". But. while Satan recovers his senses soon afterwards, his followers continue to lie there in a state of stupefaction. A big change in their condition has taken place. "O how unlike the place from whence they fell!" Milton exclaims with reference to their present condition. They are "overwhelmed with floods and whirlwinds of tempestuous fire." Beelzebub is almost unrecognizable: O how fallen, how changed from him who used to shine with an exceeding brightness when he was a denizen of Heaven! Beelzebub, surveying the "astonished" angels refers to them as "all this mightly host in horrible destruction laid thus low, as far as gods and Heavenly essences can perish". Beelzebub in distress tells his chief that all the glory of these angels is "extinct" and their happy state is "swallowed up in endless misery".
Beelzebub, however, has no doubt at all that the fallen angels will rally to Satan's call. Satan's voice, he says, has always brightened them in times of fear and danger. They have always felt inspired by his words even when the fortunes of battle were going against them. It is true that now "they lie grovelling and prostrate" on the fiery lake, but they will soon show fresh courage and will revive. As Satan surveys the scene, he sees "his legions. angel-forms, who lay entranced thick as autumnal leaves" that lie on the surface of the streams in the valley of Vallombrosa. They are also compared to sea-weed floating on the Red Sea, and then to the defeated Egyptian army who vainly pursued the Israelites across the sea. All these comparisons are intended to convey firstly the multitudinous numbers of Satan's followers, and secondly their lost glory. Accordingly, the poet says at the end of these similes that they lay "abject and lost", "under amazement of their hideous change".
The angels, however, respond quickly to Satan's call. Satan's sarcasm and his threat produce the desired effect on them. Quickly they rise like men who have been found sleeping on duly by one who supervises their work and of whom they are afraid. Even though they clearly see their evil plight and feel their fierce pains, they promptly obey the voice of their general. At this stage they are compared to the huge swarm of locusts summoned by Moses by waving his rod, and to the countless northern barbarians who, after crossing the Rhine and the Danube, destroyed the civilization of Rome. These comparisons are intended not only to convey the vast number of fallen angels, but also the evil and sinister side of their character. It is their destructive aspect that emerges by the comparison with locusts and the barbarians. As they stand to those of human beings, calling them princely dignities and powers who formerly occupied thrones in Heaven. The poet's intention here is, of course, to remind us of the glory these angels have lost by their defiance of God. It is as important that the reader should not under-estimate the devils as that he should not over- estimate them. If they are absurd in their rebellious reasoning, they are not negligible in the character of being God gave them. The author must not produce the impression that our great mother (Eve) was deceived by beings of mediocre intelligence. Hence he reminds us here and there of the past grandeur of these angels. Their names have, however, been "blotted out" from the heavenly Books of Life.
When the leaders of these angels step forward in obedience to Satan's call, their looks are "downcast and damp". However, when they see that their chief is not in a state of complete despair, they become somewhat cheerful. Satan is able to raise "their fainting courage" and to dispel their fears. At his command, trumpets and clarions are blown loudly and his "mighty standard" is upraised. In a moment ten thousand banners rise into the air, and with them a multitude of spears. The angels now stand in an appropriate military formation. As they listen to the reassuring music of flutes and recorders, their troubled thoughts are driven away. They move silently to the soft music of the pipes, and attain some mental stability the basis of their solidarity. They present a horrid front of dazzling arms, They look like ancient warriors holding their spears and shields and waiting for the command of their mighty chief. As Satan looks at the whole battalion, their visages and statures as of gods, and as he calculates their number, he is filled with pride by the spectacle. Never since the creation of man, Milton tells us, has there gathered such a force as had assembled then. Compared with these angels, no force could be said to have greater worth than that army of pygmies who were invaded every year by a multitude of cranes. All the Giants born and brought up at Phlegra, combined with the heroic men who fought at Thebes and Troy, were insignificant as compared with this army of angels which surpassed all that is famous in fables or the romantic exploits of King Arthur and his knights. Thus Milton here emphasises the size, magnitude, and strength of Satan's forces.
But Milton does not allow us to forget the fact of the defeat of this huge assemblage of angels. The description of their exceeding strength is immediately followed by a picture of the diminished and obscured glory of Satan himself and then by a picture of the withered glory of the host of the fallen angels. The angels are compared to the forest oaks or mountain pines which have been struck by lightning and which, though retaining their majestic look, stand with their tops scorched and their branches bare of leaves. When Satan has completed his address to them, their response is instantaneous and spontaneous: "and to confirm his words, outflow millions of flaming swords, drawn from the thighs of mighty Cherubim". The sudden blaze of these swords illumines Hell far and wide. Loudly they storm against the supreme God, and holding tightly their weapons, they fiercely hit their loud-sounding shields to produce the tumult of war, flinging challenges at the vault of Heaven. Beelzebub was right. The voice of Satan has restored to them their original courage, and their war-like spirit has returned.
The catalogue of devils, which follows, shows us all the wickedness to which these angels subsequently gave rise to in the human world. Moloch, Chemos, Baalim and Ashtaroth, Astarte, Thammuz, Dagon, Rimmon, and Belial-these were the false gods who corrupted men to worship them in the various idolatries of paganism. Milton lists them with enough detail to convey an impression of a crowding, formidable host to match the resounding catalogues of ships and warriors in Homer and Virgil.
An impression not only of the vast numbers but also of the strength and dignity of the fallen angels has thus been produced by Milton. But, while the impression of countless numbers is continued and even strengthened. the impression of their strength and dignity is soon nullified and dissolved.
Before Book I closes we are told that, in order to accommodate them in the hall of Pandemonium, these angels, at a signal from their leaders, reduce themselves to the smallest imaginable size, so that they, who a moment ago had seemed to be larger even than the Giants of the earth, now look smaller than the smallest dwarfs. They are now compared to the race of pygmies dwelling beyond the Himalayas, or to the multitude of those fairy-elves who make merry in the moonlight. Thus those angels find space in the hall. having been reduced to the smallest possible size, though still numberless like the bees around a hive. By means of these similes, Milton manages to throw contempt and ridicule on the fallen angels.
On the whole, the picture that Milton gives us of the fallen angels is far from edifying. What is emphasised again and again is their vast number, and their misery and abjectness. Their present plight is contrasted with their past glory. When they assemble in response to Satan's call, the spectacle presented by them is certainly impressive, and Milton certainly lends some dignity and greatness to their collective force by this description. But this impression of their grandeur is fleeting because very soon after that Milton gives us pictures belittling them, both literally and metaphorically, and lowering them in our estimation.
Important Questions with Answers
- Analyse and comment on the opening of Paradise Lost (Book I).
- What picture of Satan do you get from Book I of Paradise Lost?
- Discuss those traditional prescriptions of the epic from which are illustrated in Book I Paradise Lost.
- What purpose is served by the epic similes in Book I of Paradise Lost?
- On the basis of your reading of Book I of Paradise Lost, brig out Satan's qualities of leadership.
- What picture does Milton present of the angels in revolt?
- Analyse the speeches of Satan in Book I of Paradise Lost to show that Milton does not intend us to sympathies with Satan.
- "To admire Satan, then is to give one's vote not only for a world of misery, but also for a world of lies and propaganda of wishful thinking of incessant autobiography". Discuss in the light of this remark some of speeches by Satan or statements made by the poet about him in Paradise Lost Book I.
- How is Milton's personality reflected in Paradise Lost, Book I?
- Write an essay on Milton's style as revealed Book I Paradise Lost.
- Explain how Milton's poetry weds the puritan spirit with that of the Renaissance.
- What is blank verse? Discuss Milton's handling of it in Book I of Paradise Lost.
