- Sep 2024
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milton.host.dartmouth.edu milton.host.dartmouth.edu
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Fruit
the noun 'fruit' is an allusion to the fruit of the tree of knowledge, which will eventually bring down Adam and Eve in the fall of man which Milton recants
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In vision beatific
a reference to the beatific vision in which God created his heavenly kingdom
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yet observ'dThir dread commander:
the foundation is laid for Satan to be described as a hero and inspiration - perhaps Milton is hinting that Satan is in fact God? Could God and Satan be the same person?
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Ethereal temper
Use of the adjective 'ethereal' suggests that this feeling is fleeting.
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The mind is its own place, and in it selfCan make a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell of Heav'n.
Satan claims he would rather be free from God's authority even if it would require him to live in 'hell'. Satan's aspiration to be his own boss and command his own legacy, rather than obeying God is somewhat inspirational. Satire here further exemplifies this and Milton endeavours upon a structure of logos to show this to us. Satan's statement may seem manipulative but it could also be perceived as deeply innate to human nature which paints Satan as a romantic figure.
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all'n Cherube, to be weak is miserableDoing or Suffering: but of this be sure,To do ought good never will be our task,But ever to do ill our sole delight, [ 160 ]As being the contrary to his high willWhom we resist. If then his ProvidenceOut of our evil seek to bring forth good,Our labour must be to pervert that end,And out of good still to find means of evil; [ 165 ]
Satan is speaking here. Although Milton is writing about God and the fall of man, the most fascinating character int the book isn't Adam or Eve in his recounting of the fall of man ; it is in fact Satan. Milton shows Satan's fall from heaven and how he is cast out by God for rebellion, whilst Satan enjoys agony in hell. Satan thus undergoes the task of undermining the authority of an almighty, omnipotent, omnibelevolent, omniscient God. I think that Milton finds Satan's evil conspiration to be somewhat oddly inspiring, reflected through how Milton narrates the story from his point of view. However, possibly, Milton is trying to tempt us in the same Satanic nature that Adam and Eve succumb to.
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F Mans First Disobedience
Milton points to the scope laid out by biblical texts such as those of Genesis in the story of the fall of man. He is also condensing the subject of the poem- attempting to write a great epic for the english language comparable to that of Homer's iliad or Virgil's Aeneid
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