Paradise

The story of a creation cast down to a (both literal and metaphorical) hell is the basis of both John Milton’s Paradise Lost and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. It is of no coincidence that the novel Victor’s monster comes upon and reads is Paradise Lost - from it the monster is able to find some kinship in a fictional tortured soul much like him who lost the safety of their creator’s realm and was thus left to essentially rot alone. The monster’s story echoes in many ways the story of Adam and the…

Free will is defined as the power of acting without the constraint of necessity or fate; the ability to act at one’s own discretion. Two texts that I feel deal heavily with free will are Paradise Lost and Oroonoko. In Paradise Lost, Adam and Eve experience the struggle for free will with God, as they go through trials and eventually end up being removed from the Garden of Eden. In Oroonoko, is about an African man who is taken from his home along with his wife, and is forced into slavery. He…

Milton uses allusions throughout Paradise Lost including biblical references, literary references and mythological references. Many of his allusions refer to the Bible story of Adam, Eve, and Lucifer, explaining their sins and the reason humans lost their paradise. He also uses other literary and mythological references to relate further to the story. To begin with, Milton uses many allusions to the Bible. He opens the story explaining man’s first sin with the forbidden fruit and Adam and Eve:…

In the first book of Milton’s Paradise Lost, he describes evil’s violent and elusive nature. Satan has been recently sent to Hell, a place that is the epitome of the character of Evil. Taking in the atmosphere he says, “As one great Furnace flam’d, yet from those flames/No light, but rather darkness visible” (I. 37-48). The portrayal of Hell as a lightless fire showcases its violent nature. The word “fire” serves as an indicator of evil’s anger, intense, and powerful nature. Labeling the fire as…

The Arguments in Paradise Lost are prose summaries added to Milton’s text to outline their book’s events, thus making them more easily comprehensible to the reader. The addendums were added after their initial appearance, when the printer requested summaries as a prefix to each book. Paradise Lost requires these Arguments due to its density, numerous allusions, and sheer complexity, under which the narrative can be lost to the reader without guidance. As such, they are integral to understanding…

Paradise Itself is a short story filled with various metaphors, some more prevalent than others. There are three master metaphors in this story. They compare Tim and Julianne’s relationship to Adam and Eve’s story, relationships in general to sports, and men to animals in the wild. The master metaphors are reinforced by a string of mini metaphors. Together these comparisons broaden and shape the story allowing for a more coherent understanding of the author’s true thoughts and feelings.…

Pontellier is said to possess, “That outward existence which conforms, the inward life that questions.” In the novel, she lived her life outwardly as though she was comfortable and filled with happiness however, inwardly she was confused. Like Edna, Sal Paradise, main character of Jack Kerouac’s On the Road felt confused with how his life was turning out. Sal was living a mundane life until Dean Moriarty turned his apathetic emotions into the love for adventure. Dean was a poor con–man who just…

‘Frankenstein intertextuality The novel, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, and Satan’s soliloquy from Book 4 of John Milton’s Paradise Lost share ideas regarding the role societal rules play in the expulsion of outsiders. In Frankenstein, the society does not give the monster a chance. The monster decides to adapt a disregard for societal values and begins killing people. In Paradise Lost Satan is outcast from Heaven and decides to become the antithesis of God. He makes Hell his kingdom and…

To determine whether or not Satan has free will in “Paradise Lost, first we will broadly define free will to determine a clearer definition of what Milton considers as free will. According to the Oxford Dictionary, free will is “the power of acting without the constraint of necessity or fate; the ability to act at one’s own discretion” (Oxford Dictionaries Language Matters). In “Paradise Lost,” because the notion of free will seems to contradict what we consider to be freedom, we will first…

In chapter four of Paradise Lost, shame plays a major role in Satan’s characterization not only because it brings attention to his disfigured shape, but also to the readers’ pathos. That is, although shame makes Satan and the readers aware of his vileness, it also reminds them both of the alleged-mistreatment by God. For instance, in Satan’s soliloquy, he states, “but other Powers as great [as I]/ Fell not, but stand unshak’n” (Book IV, 63-4). Satan strategically compares himself to other…