John Milton’s Paradise Lost is known for being an important piece of literature that does not only highlight Milton’s extraordinary poetic abilities, but also consists of very complex and controversial ideologies and arguments. Because Paradise Lost centers itself on the Bible’s book of Genesis, it is safe to say that John Milton is no stranger to the Christian doctrine and certainly does not shy away from theological and poetic license. In fact, Milton asserts that the intention behind his poem is to “justify the ways of God to man” () and that the best way to do this, is to focus on the event that led mankind to lose its ability to properly connect with heaven: Adam and Eve’s first act of disobedience. Yet, Milton does not straightforwardly
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Stanley E. Fish in his book “Surprised by Sin: The Reader in Paradise Lost” believes that through Satan’s eloquent speeches, Milton is trying to make the reader sympathize with Satan only to later correct him and point out that his “sympathy” towards Satan is only a natural response to his condition as a fallen man. Fish explains that “the reader who falls before the lures of Satanic rhetoric displays again the weakness of Adam, and his inability to avoid repeating that fall throughout indicates the extent to which Adam’s lapse has made the reassertion of right reason impossible” (p.38). For example, in book one Milton addresses Satan’s deceitful nature through a simile that likens Satan to a “monstrous size[d]” sea …show more content…
In this passage, Satan is to symbolize deception. As mentioned above, the simile in this passage likens Satan to a whale/ “sea-monster” in the North Sea (Norway Foam) that has its back exposed above the waves, and which is mistaken by “the pilot of some small night-foundered skiff” for an actual island, and which drives him to latch his boat to it with a “fixèd anchor”. The focus of the simile now turns from the sea-monster to the pilot, and his frail vessel, and by this stage the passage is no longer about Satan but rather about the reader and his/her perception of Satan. The reader is drawn into the simile through the image of the ‘pilot’ who inaccurately identifies the whale (Satan’s evil), lurking beneath the waves and mistakes it for the shelter solidity of an island
Stanley E. Fish in his book “Surprised by Sin: The Reader in Paradise Lost” believes that through Satan’s eloquent speeches, Milton is trying to make the reader sympathize with Satan only to later correct him and point out that his “sympathy” towards Satan is only a natural response to his condition as a fallen man. Fish explains that “the reader who falls before the lures of Satanic rhetoric displays again the weakness of Adam, and his inability to avoid repeating that fall throughout indicates the extent to which Adam’s lapse has made the reassertion of right reason impossible” (p.38). For example, in book one Milton addresses Satan’s deceitful nature through a simile that likens Satan to a “monstrous size[d]” sea …show more content…
In this passage, Satan is to symbolize deception. As mentioned above, the simile in this passage likens Satan to a whale/ “sea-monster” in the North Sea (Norway Foam) that has its back exposed above the waves, and which is mistaken by “the pilot of some small night-foundered skiff” for an actual island, and which drives him to latch his boat to it with a “fixèd anchor”. The focus of the simile now turns from the sea-monster to the pilot, and his frail vessel, and by this stage the passage is no longer about Satan but rather about the reader and his/her perception of Satan. The reader is drawn into the simile through the image of the ‘pilot’ who inaccurately identifies the whale (Satan’s evil), lurking beneath the waves and mistakes it for the shelter solidity of an island