Paradise Lost Book 1 Summary
Paradise Lost By John Milton
Setting
Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton (1608 -1674).
Main Characters
Satan – Known as Lucifer in heaven before his disobedience, Satan is one of God's favorite angels until his pride gets in the way and he turns away from God. Satan brings many of heaven's angels with him, however, and reigns as king in hell. He continues an eternal battle with God and goodness for the souls of human beings. Satan, at first, is an angel with a single fault, pride, but throughout the story, he becomes physically and morally more and more corrupt.
God - The Absolute, ruler of heaven, creator of the earth, and all of creation. God is all-seeing, though he seems to pay less attention to things further away from his light. He is surrounded by angels who praise him and whom he loves but, when Satan falls and brings many of heaven's population with him, he decides to create a new creature, human, and to create for him a beautiful universe in the hopes that someday humans will join him in heaven. God has a sense of humor, and laughs at the follies of Satan, and seems to be a firm and just ruler.
Son of God - God's begotten Son, later to become fully human in the form of Jesus, the Christ. God's Son will continually beat down Satan, first in the three-day battle in heaven, then, as Jesus, when he sacrifices himself for the salvation of man. The Son of God is more sympathetic to the plight of mankind and often advocates on behalf of him in front of God.
Holy Spirit - Third of the God/Son Trinity. Although the Holy Spirit does not play a large part in the narrative (leading some critics to think that Milton did not even believe in the Trinity), he is continually referred to as Milton's inspirational "muse" in the writing of the epic. The Holy Spirit is, in fact, the creature through whom the Old and New Testament were written according to Christians, therefore he is the best vehicle from which Milton can draw the truth.
Sin - Daughter of Satan born when Satan first disobeyed God. Satan later rapes Sin and they have Death. The three form the unholy trinity in contrast to God, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Sin is sent to hell with Satan and stands guard at hell's gates. She is a horrible-looking thing, half serpent, half woman, with hellhounds circling her. She will invade earth and mankind after Satan causes Adam and Eve to fall.
Death - Spawn of Satan and Satan's daughter Sin. He is a dark, gigantic form who guards the gates of hell with Sin. He, too, will reign on earth after Satan causes the Fall. Death, however, will plague not only men and women but all living creatures on earth down to the smallest plant. Death, as a terminal end, will be defeated when God sends his Son Jesus Christ to earth.
Adam - First created man, father of all mankind. Adam is created as a just and ordered creature, living in joy, praising God. Lonely, Adam will ask for a companion and will thereafter feel deep and uncontrollable, though ordered, love for her, named Eve. This love will ultimately get Adam in trouble, as he decides to disobey God rather than leave her. Adam has free will and, by the end of the poem, also has the knowledge of good and evil.
Eve - First created woman, mother of all mankind. Eve is rather a fickle and vain woman, easily flattered by Adam and Satan. Her weakness becomes her downfall, as her vanity drives her to disobey God. She loves Adam as well, though the implication is that she loves herself much more.
Raphael - Gentle archangel sent to befriend and warn Adam of the dangers in the Garden. Raphael is traditionally seen as a friendly and sociable angel and, in fact, sits down to eat and gab with Adam for most of an afternoon. Raphael is a gentle guide and appears as a luminous, soft being.
Michael - General in God's army. In contrast to Raphael, Michael is a firm, military type of angel. He is more of an instructor and a punisher than he is a friend and a guide. He and Gabriel are sent to battle Satan's forces in the heavenly war, and he is sent to evict Adam and Eve from Paradise.
Gabriel - Another archangel who is a general in God's army. He, too, was sent to lead God's forces into battle against Satan and it is he who, with a squadron of angel soldiers, finds Satan in the Garden of Eden the first time.
Plot Summary
Paradise Lost recreates the biblical story of the fall of man, starting with the first fall, that of a group of rebel angels in Heaven. Satan, one of God’s most cherished and powerful angels, grows angry when God creates the Son and proclaims that Son as a leader. Satan asserts his own authority and power when he organizes a group of rebel angels against God, leading to the Angelic War. The war ends with no deaths but much pain. The Son defeats the rebels, who are cast into Hell.
God creates the first man after this civil war. The man is Adam. Lonely, Adam requests a companion, and so God makes Eve from Adam’s flesh. Eve is beautiful, intelligent, and in love with Adam. In addition, she is also curious and hungry for knowledge. Adam and Eve begin in a close relationship with God. They live in Paradise, in the Garden of Eden. God gives them the power to rule over all creation with only one command: They cannot eat fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. God warns that if they eat from the tree, they will die.
Meanwhile. In Hell, Satan plans to destroy man in an act of revenge. He journeys to Earth and tricks angel Uriel to show him where man lives. After finding Adam and Eve in Paradise, he grows jealous of them, for they have God’s favor. He overhears Adam and Eve talking about the forbidden fruit. He disguises himself as a serpent, cunning and deceptive. He tricks Eve into eating the forbidden fruit.
After Adam learns of Eve’s sin and knows that she must die, he chooses to eat the forbidden fruit too. He feels bound to Eve because they are from the same flesh. Adam and Eve both know they have sinned. They fall asleep and have terrible nightmares. When they awake, they both feel guilt and shame for disobeying God. On bended knee, they beg God for forgiveness.
Satan returns to Hell to celebrate his triumph. As soon as he finishes his victory speech, he and his followers turn into snakes without limbs or the ability to speak.
God sends the Archangel Michael to escort Adam and Eve from paradise. Before leaving, Michael shows Adam the future, which are events that result from the original sin. The vision shows everything that happens to mankind, tracing events from Cain and Abel up to the redemption of sin through Jesus Christ. Adam and Eve leave paradise with a mixture of sadness and hope.
Themes
Individual Freedom and Self-Determination
Individual freedom informs the entire story of Paradise Lost. The story begins with an extreme act of self-determination when Satan gathers followers to wage a civil war against God in Heaven. It is shocking enough that any angel would challenge God, but that that angel would persuade others to join him by convincing them that God is tyrannical and has no right to rule with such impudence is truly impressive.
Satan becomes both the antagonist and the protagonist because although his denouncing of God is shocking and unsuccessful, the reader can truly understand why Satan seeks individual freedom over a life of service to a deity he never chose. Satan’s goal of self-determination is challenged by Milton when Satan becomes the ruler in Hell, where he replicates the imagery of monarchy and acts as the God of hell. Milton, therefore, articulates a challenge to his own theme and suggests that self-determination, while admirable, is not always genuine.
Self-determination is further seen when Eve desires independence from Adam. Eve wants to prove that she can withstand the temptation into sin without his help, even though she claims that she is subservient to Adam.