What Is John Milton's Involvement In The English Civil War?

John Milton was a staunch advocate of liberty in all of its forms. It is intriguing to look at Milton’s involvement in the English Civil War and how those experiences affected his later works, especially his masterpiece Paradise Lost. John Milton was briefly involved in the Puritan Revolt, and in that time he defended the English citizens through his writing. Milton’s involvement mainly took place during the Protectorate when he served civil duties. Once he pronounced himself the ruler of the Protectorate, Cromwell changed many aspects of the English society. For instance, censored the press, forbade sports, closed the theatres, and permitted the Jews to return to England. He also caused many of the Irish Catholics to be massacred because they …show more content…
Philosophers have established a theory that Milton endeavored to display the portrayal of the rebel angels representing a parliament in Hell (Freedman 544). It is suspected that John Milton wanted to exhibit a “government” in hell in order to make analogies about Oliver Cromwell and Satan. Many people depict Paradise Lost as Milton’s way of expressing his opinions and beliefs about the political figures reigning at the time. According to Fallon, “Milton adopts images popular with the post-Restoration Royalist press, which pictured the Long Parliament as a ‘Parliament of Hell’ and Cromwell as a Satanic figure”(1204). Oliver Cromwell as the Devil is a fitting representation of the “Parliament of Hell.”Scholars describe the Parliament of Hell as a council of angels in Hell that make up an government. The fallen angels meet for this parliament in what John Milton calls the Pandæmonium, or the capital of Hell. In this captivating painting, Oliver Cromwell and his council are illustrated in a conference with the Lucifer, and Cromwell is sitting next to the Devil. Oliver Cromwell and his council are meant to represent the fallen angels being in a meeting with Satan. Oliver Cromwell as the Devil can also be described as a comparison to the government of …show more content…
Cromwell is equivalent to Lucifer in many ways. For example, Satan uses republican ideals to inspire his fellow angels, and later demons, but ends up distorting those values to become a dictator over Hell. This corresponds to Cromwell leading a democratic civil war against the English king, only to set himself up as the protector. By declaring himself protector, Oliver Cromwell became the military dictator of England, and was able to conquer Ireland and Scotland later on. It is not clear if Cromwell had the initial plan to take the king's power, or if he was just fighting for the sake of his country, but either way Cromwell eventually became the dictator, after taking advantage of the lack of unity in England after the death of Charles I. Whereas, Satan wanted to become a God-like figure to the other angels, and wanted to displace God and conquer heaven. The main difference between these two situations is that Cromwell was successful at gaining power, while Satan failed at his attempt. Satan was able to gain power after being cast out of Heaven and into Hell and declares that it is “Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heav’n”(I.263). Satan therefore believes that they it is better to be in hell than to serve under God in Heaven. In Paradise Lost, once Satan has just awakened in Hell with his fellow fallen angels, he immediately begins to