Paradise Lost - Themes
Hierarchy and Order
Disobedience and Revolt
Sin and Innocence
Free Will and Predestination
Love and Marriage
Key Quotes
In portraying the “Fall of Man”, Milton spends much of Paradise Lost describing the universal hierarchy and order that these events upset.
17th century view of the cosmos: Heaven exists above, Earth below and Hell and Chaos below that
Key Quotes
most important hierarchy of Heaven: God as supreme monarch, the creator and ruler of the universe, and his “only begotten” Son as equal in rank
God sets Adam and Eve in rank above the animals and in terms of authority and wisdom
The devils of Hell are the lowest ranked of all, as they have been totally cast away from God.
Milton was an advocate for individual freedom and the overthrow of monarchies
Paradise Lost is ironic: the radical Milton made his masterpiece a poem that defends the ultimate system of monarchy and order
Explained as Milton felt as though God was the rightful ruler
the moral lesson is that the hierarchy of Heaven and Earth must be respected and upheld and that the evil in the world is the result of an upset of the divine order.
Naivety
Key Quotes
Adam knows better but still lets Eve go
'desiring more her stay'
'with thy permission then' - Eve
'go for if thy stay absents thee more'
'somehow high at hand watches us no doubt'
Adam was seen as above Eve - natural hierarchy
Adam fails to live up to his role as the male protector
Milton 'lost control' of his wife - is this reflected
Adam
Eve
thinking she is strong enough to be independent despite being a woman
compared to Goddess of the hunt, Delia, but she is without 'bow and quiver'
'though not as she with bow and quiver armed'
the naivety is emphasised by the reader's knowledge of the source material. We know Adam and Eve will fall
reinforces the societal view of the need for male protection
shift towards Puritan values which would see flattery as a sin
"Inherent and fatal narcissism" - Kilgour on EVE
"Fell through uxoriousness" - Lewis on ADAM
Satan
malcontent, thinks he can better himself in a strict society
doesn't realise God is omnipotent
'hid from sharpest sight'
'Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heav’n.' - Satan (Book 1)