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Antonio Powell
Project Two
10/21/2013
This paper will analyze gender roles from the first creations of mankind and how men and
women were perceived. In addition, I will also show how irony is used to convey messages by
evaluating satin’s character; moreover, conclude rather he is good or evil based on the evidence
provided by Milton.
Introduction:
Paradise lost is a book that some scholar’s and poets feel isolated John Milton from other writers
and poets. In addition, many high schools, colleges, and universities require students to read
Paradise lost prior to their graduation. That being said, it shows how imperative John Milton’s
work is. John Milton is arguably considered the best writer because his work is second to none,
the dialogue in his work, particularly in Paradise Lost, is so elegantly composed that it has been
applicable since the 17th century. In addition, John Milton’s work was published after some of
the other great writers who were already known and had their work published such as
Shakespeare, Cervantes, Homer, Spenser, and Quixote, just to name a few. Thus, in order for
Milton to publish something during this juncture and get acknowledged for his work it needed to
be equivalent to or better than those writers previously mention, as mentioned in class. Milton
understood the challenge he was up against, but planned for years to produce work of the same
or better standards than those before him. Milton displays power matrices and gender roles
throughout the entire book, and this analysis will go over the imperative ones.
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Body:
By the time Paradise lost was written, Milton was already completely blind. He was unable to
write this book himself, and needed the help of a transcriber to write Paradise lost.
This is a
form of power matrices because it shows the vigor and tenacity Milton holds for God. Paradise
lost had a myriad of concrete topics and scenes that could be discussed in this paper.
Nevertheless, one of the most significant scenes that stood out to me was the fall of Satan.
Milton used irony and oxymoron’s to convey his message during a time when speaking
negatively of the King was blasphemy. However, Milton cleverly disguised his vulgar thoughts
of King Charles by expressing him as God, and himself as Satan. As we all know, Satin was
thrown out of heaven, but Milton’s satin accepts this cast-out and embraces it, unlike other satins
in past poems. This is another form of power matrices Milton displays. Satin has accepted his
defeat but is determined to make good of a bad situation and find a way to seek revenge.
Milton’s satin in book one says “A mind not to be chang’d by place or time. The mind is its own
place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven…Here we may reign secure; and
in my choice to reign is worth ambition, through in hell: Better to reign in hell than serve in
heaven” (lines 253-61). This was Milton’s way of saying he acknowledges being defeated, but
he rather be defeated and live in hell, then be victorious and live with the king. In addition,
Milton’s satin was content with his new world because he felt that heaven and hell is something
the mind perceives. Percy Shelley (The great English poet) deified Milton and summarized
Milton’s devil character with saying satin’s character was of brilliance and satin’s ambition was
endless. Shelley continues with, it is a mistake to suppose that he could ever have been intended
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for the popular personification of evil. Milton wanted to express how he felt, but understood that
if he attempted to publish any writings belittling the King, the King would have not allowed it to
be published. The writing presented the King as God, and Milton as the devil, and Milton knew
the narcissistic King wouldn’t reject that image of himself.
Milton displays gender roles in the introduction with Adam and Eve. Adam is the first man that
was made in the image of God and Eve “the mother of mankind” according to Milton. Milton
makes a huge statement in support of gender roles. Milton’s satin singles Eve out and hopes to
find her alone without Adam. Satin believes that when Adam and Eve are together he may not
be as convincing, but if separated, he can convince Eve to eat from the tree of knowledge and
Adam understands this (line 255). Milton expresses that Eve was tricked by the serpent (devil)
to eat from the tree of knowledge (Book 9). The serpent lied to Eve and said God is testing the
courage of both her and Adam and in fact wants them to eat from the tree of knowledge. Thus,
Eve believes the serpent and eats from the tree. Adam has already expressed his feelings for Eve
and when he finds out Eve has fallen, he decides to fall with her so they can be impure together.
Eve is inferior to Adam because Adam is like God, but not God; yet and still, Adam is created
for God and Eve is created for the God in Adam, according to Milton. Eve is a representation of
woman as a whole. This includes daughters, mothers, sisters, etc. Meanwhile, Adam is the
father of mankind. Milton continues by saying both Adam and Eve were punished for their
disobedience by being thrown out of Eden. Milton shows gender roles in book 9 by saying
Adam was attracted to Eve physically, and Eve was attracted to herself after seeing her own
image. This showed that Adam, being a typical man, seen Eve’s external beauty and feel for her.
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Meanwhile, Eve saw her own reflection for the first time and fell in love with herself, displaying
a typical conceited woman that consistently checks on her appearance.
Milton continues to show gender roles with satin as a serpent. As previously mentioned, Satin is
looking to approach Eve but knows trying to convey a message to her with Adam around, would
not work. Therefore, he waits and the opportunity presents itself when Eve tells Adam they
should separate in order to work faster in the garden. Adam does not like the idea of separating
because he was warned of the possible dangers that they may encounter. However, Adam listens
to Eve and they separate. Needless to say, Eve was persuaded into consuming the forbidden fruit
by the serpent. This shows gender roles because it suggests that women are followers and
without their leader present, they can be persuaded to do things they may have not done in the
presence of their leader. It also shows that the man is the dominant person in the relationship
and is supposed to take charge of situations. Adam failed to do so, and feels he is to blame for
Eve eating the forbidden fruit.
Conclusion:
Milton displayed gender roles throughout the entire poem. He established the way men and
women were viewed from day one.
Milton also did a remarkable job describing satin’s
character. There are times when satin was portrayed as the good guy, while at other times he
was the bad guy. However, it appeared to me that for the majority of this poem satin was
considered the bad guy. Yet and still, the actions he’s considered a bad guy for, can be morally
justifiable depending on how you perceive things. Milton used irony and satire throughout this
poem. He used them in a verity of ways to accomplish his goal of conveying a specific message.
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