Paradise Lost Similes

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In John Milton’s Paradise Lost, epic simile is frequently used to create elaborate and sweeping comparisons that contribute to a character’s development. In Book IX, Milton compares Eve to a list of goddesses by writing “To Pales, or Pomona, thus adorned / Likest she seemed Pomona when she fled / Vertumnus, or to Ceres in her prime / Yet virgin of Proserpina from Jove” (393-6). This comparison constitutes as a epic simile because it spans multiple lines and goes into great detail. One thing that immediately sticks out about this simile is that it focuses on Eve opposed to Satan. Many of the epic similes in Paradise Lost characterize Satan while, suspiciously, there are none that use the Father or Son as subject material. By using an epic simile to describe Eve, Milton is subtly placing her into a category of sin with Satan via a shared literary device. Ultimately, in a very subtle manner, Milton is imploring his readers to make negative conjectures about Eve which creates a foreboding atmosphere. …show more content…
All of the women Milton likens Eve to are Greek goddesses who suffered evil fates. For example, Pomona, was the goddess of orchards who was tricked into falling in love with the god Vertumnus. By using Pomona, Milton both uses her to foreshadow Eve’s eventual downfall but to also alludes to the Forbidden Tree’s fruit. Similarly, Proserpina is the daughter of Ceres who is kidnapped and taken to the Underworld. After she eats six pomegranate seeds, another fruit born from a tree, she is condemned to the Underworld just as Even will be condemned after eating the Forbidden

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