What purpose is served by the epic similes in Book I of Paradise Lost?
Or
Write a short essay on the Miltonic simile with reference to Book I of Paradise Lost.
Or
Show the appropriateness and effectiveness of the epic similes used by Milton in Book I.
A striking feature of Milton's style is his use of the epic or expanded simile. Milton follows in this respect the example of Homer, Virgil, Statius, Lucan, Spenser, Tasso, etc., and even borrows in some cases similes already employed by these epic predecessors. Where he is original, the materials of his comparisons are based sometimes on simple observation of Nature, but oftener on myth and legend, history, travel, science, or the technical arts.
The epic simile is a long comparison of an event, object, or person with something essentially different. As a means of comparison, it is very useful. It gives Milton space in which to intensify the effect he has been trying to produce. In this kind of simile a writer starts with a comparison between 'A' and 'B', but the second member grows bigger until it eclipses the first. This kind of comparison is also known as the "Homeric" or the "long-tailed" simile.
The first epic simile employed by Milton in Book I is the comparison of Satan's huge bulk with "that sea-beast Leviathan" which "God of all His works created hugest that swim the ocean-stream." This comparison is elaborated in seven lines. Milton's object here is to acquaint us with Satan's dangerousness because of his size and evil power. The dominant impression in this simile is, of course, that of size, but other impressions are also produced. Leviathan is dangerous. This monster 'can be mistaken for a shelter and source of safety, but once the sailors have attached themselves to him in their ignorance they are in great danger of death. Trickery, the falseness of appearances, the lack of caution on the part of man when close to danger these are the ideas connected with Satan to be amplified later in Paradise Lost. (Subsequently Eve is deceived by the Serpent, even as a sailor might be deceived by Leviathan). Besides, certain words stand out by their vividness and awaken deep responses in us to the fundamental aspects of evil. Such are the words "beast" and "scaly". Referring to this simile a critic says: "The Satan-Leviathan simile not only suggests the apocalyptic sea-monster and his illusory promise but the confusing giganticism of the evil world in flux."
The physical dimensions of Satan are emphasised with reference to his weapons, the "ponderous" shield and the exceptionally long spear. Here again appropriate similes are employed to convey the hugeness of the two weapons. The "broad circumference" of the shield hangs on his shoulders "like the moon". But Milton departs from the point to make a reference to Galileo's telescope (the "optic glass") and even to mention the place of observation: from the top of Fesole, or in Valdarno" JAnd he describes what the telescope reveals: new lands, rivers, or mountains in the moon's spotty globe. But, although Milton digresses from the main point, the digression is helpful. We are invited to see the moon through the eyes of the most intelligent and quick-sighted astronomer of modern times, in ideal atmospheric conditions, under the clear dry sky of Italy. If we see it thus, we shall imagine more vividly and with more emotion the shield of Satan. The fact that the moon is not smooth but ridged and channelled conveys similar features of Satan's shield and faintly suggests the most superb shield in Homer and in all literature, the shield of Achilles. Thus the Miltonic simile is unique in the completeness of its correspondences with the object. The comparison of the spear with the tallest pine tree cut down on Norwegian hills for the mast of some great flagship is also impressive, though by comparison the pine tree would merely look like a stick.
Then there are a series of similes the point of each of which is that the fallen angels are innumerable. Satan's legions lie stunned "thick as autumnal leaves that strow the brooks in Vallombrosa". Milton's mind went back to his Italian journey for this comparison which conveys not only the vast number of the fallen angels but the confusion in which they lie. The fallen angels may also be imagined here as having lost their brightness as the autumnal leaves have lost their freshness. In the second comparison, Milton goes to one of the familiar stories in the Old Testament, the passage of the Israelites through the Red Sea, pursued by Pharaoh whose chariots and horsemen were destroyed and lay floating in the waves that closed behind the Israelites. Again we have the sense of confusion and a countless number of carcases and chariots. At Satan's call, the fallen angels begin to wake up. Again, there are two comparisons, one brief, the other Homeric. The first, appropriate for fallen soldiers, is with sentinels asleep on duty. In the second case, Milton goes to the Bible, giving us the more expanded comparison of the fallen angels to the plague of locusts called up by Moses. that "over the realm of impious Pharaoh hung/Like night, and darkened all the land of Nile". Again, the angels are numberless, and the comparison is with a countless multitude of flying pests that descend upon the land.
The next comparison once more emphasizes countless numbers and the sense of confusion among the fallen angels, whose swarming down to dry land is like the descent of the barbarians upon Rome. Here we get a suitable impression of size, numbers, and a relentless advancing forward. It is noteworthy also that, with the exception of the autumnal leaves and the sentinels, all the comparisons have been with things dangerous and destructive-the carcasses and chariots in the Red Sea (symbols of destroyers who were destroyed), the dark cloud of locusts, the barbarians inherent evil of Satan's forces, and their role as destroyers of harmony from the north who attempted to destroy the civilization of Rome. Thus the and the values of life, also emerge. And on a deeper poetic level we feel the hostility of the destructive forces through the sensuous vividness of "poured never from her frozen loins", with its associations of ugliness and horror.
In order to convey to us the diminished glory of Satan after his defeat, Milton compares the Archangel to the newly-risen sun looking "through the horizontal misty air shorn of his beams, or from behind the moon, in dim eclipse, shedding disastrous twilight on half the nations and perplexing monarchs with fear of change." The significance of the association of Satan with an eclipse of the sun is obvious, eclipses having always been regarded as evil omens. But, besides conveying to us Satan's diminished lustre, this simile calls up numerous other images because of the reference to frightened nations and perplexed monarchs. In yet another simile, the withered glory of the fallen angels is compared to the forest oaks or mountain pines which have been struck by lightning. And this too is an effective comparison, bringing before us a desolate scene of Nature.
In the long roll-call of the devils, Milton identifies them with the pagan deities, oriental and classical. In Milton's treatment of them, these legends lose nothing of their seductive beauty, while being seen as hateful. The last such identification comes after the building of Pandemonium at the point where the description of the congregation of fiends begins. In these last seventy lines of Book I, there are as many as five elaborate similes. The description of the angry Jove pitching Mulciber out of Heaven is an example of transposed description. Part of the narrative value of this simile of Mulciber lies in the fact that it focuses in one memorable vision all the previous identifications of the fallen angels with the pagan deities before the poet moves on to the next incident.
The hall of Pandemonium is compared to the lists of chivalric encounters. The point of this simile is that it refers us back to an earlier identification of Satan's marshalled armies with the joustings and battles of medieval romance. And then, with this spacious image in our minds, the multitude of devils is suddenly reduced to a swarm of bees around their hive. Once again the primary purpose of the simile here is a transposed description answering the exact needs of the story. Each detail in this comparison has its ironic undertone as well as its descriptive aptness and charm. The beehive, the gold "straw-built citadel", shows the moral impermanence of the gold from which Pandemonium has been built. Also, this simile emphasizes the thickly swarming mass insect quality (negative) rather than the industry (positive) of the fallen angels. And there is the satiric political touch of the insects engaged in "state affairs".
Having reduced the devils to the size of bees, Milton compares them human dwarfs and pygmies living beyond the Indian mount (namely, the Himalayas). Next, the devils are compared to "faery elves" on seeing whose midnight revelry some belated peasant feels both joyful and afraid. Here smallness is not the only point of resemblance (between fiends and fairies). Fairies have generally been regarded as lesser devils, however charming and bewitching we may imagine them to be. Besides smallness, evil is the link between the two categories of beings. This simile has been pointed out by a critic as also providing contrast and relief, and as refreshing us "by a transition from Hell to a moonlit English lane".
The epic simile is not just a trick of style. Milton generally employs it for a valid purpose. It has, however, been pointed out by some critics that the sheer poetic beauty or imaginative intensity of some of the similes attracts so much of our attention that we are apt to forget the original object that provoked the comparison. One critic has, for instance, said that the Leviathan simile makes us forget Satan by diverting all our attention to the sea-monster. To this we can reply that therein precisely lies the richness of this particular simile. As Addison and Boileau pointed out, digressions of this kind are justified, firstly because they enhance the poetry by glorious images and sentiments, and secondly because they supply variety and relief by introducing scenes outside the proper scope of the story. Many of Milton's similes show his habit of pursuing a comparison beyond the mere limits of illustrative likeness, for the sake of a rich accumulation of circumstances beautiful in itself. According to a critic, Milton's favorite figure is the long-tailed simile or, as it is better called, the decorative comparison, used for its ennobling rather than for its elucidating virtue. Another critic writes that these digressions (in the form of long, elaborate similes) were for Milton a "welcome means of pouring forth the treasures of his mind".
It has to be admitted that the variety of scene and incident introduced through these similes is one of their charms. The sea-beast Leviathan, the moon seen through a telescope, the sun in eclipse, a cloud of locusts, the army of invading barbarians, the covered field with the combatants attacking one another, the swarm of bees around their hive, the race of Pygmies, the fairy-elves making merry in the moonlight-such is the variety that Milton's similes bring before us. At the same time, these similes answer the demands of the narrative; they are images used to portray the scenes and characters and events that compose the poem; "they are picturing of the action, ideas, and sentiments." They are what we have called above transposed descriptions, and in order to be effective they have to be detailed. Finally, "once used as similes these images become significant parts of the story and they thus become elements in the growing forces of the narrative."
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.
