John Miltons Paradise Lost Essay - 1848 Words

John Miltons Paradise Lost Freedom (free will) is the absence of imposed behavior. Individual freedom is obviously attractive, but when there is real freedom of choice, the wrong choice is the one that is made - such as the choice made by Satan who although he can be admired for his having dared to rebel against the norm, is not heroic for having chosen to plot against God. Free will was given to man in order to be able to choose the faith since in the absence of free will, there is no way to test faith. The more tested we are, the closer we are to God although whether we truly exercise free will is questionable since perhaps it is simply enforced via the threat of punishment upon transgression. In any event, despite the†¦show more content†¦In this way, Milton gives free expression with apparent contradictions. He can perhaps then be compared with Satan since he is thought to be a ground-breaking leader who is a revolutionary rebel. In any event, it was this pride which motivated Satan to question God. Questioning authority is another sin and it should si mply be accepted that those in power keep the power. While in Heaven, Satan refused to accept the autocracy and later managed to convince an army of cohorts to question God and struggle for the control of power. In this same way, Cromwell can be perceived as a Satanic figure since he also dared to question the king in power at the time, Charles II. Satan and God are in binary opposition. It is said that God created light out of the void which also makes it credible that he created Satan to take the part of being his adversary. They are inseparable in that removing one would cause the other to cease to exist. Milton was a man in utter conflict In terms of religious beliefs, he was a devout Cristian and therefore, to him, there was no question of Gods existence, beauty, benevolancy and goodness. Consquently, Satan was the personification of evil and the antithesis of moral good since Satan represents everything opposite to God. In this way, it is primordial that evil be allowed to express itself sinceShow MoreRelatedJohn Miltons Paradise Lost2516 Words   |  11 PagesJohn Milton’s famous poem Paradise Lost has influenced society throughout the ages on a number of topics ranging from the fall of Satan to the marriage roles that Adam and Eve teach us. One idea stands alone though more so than that of any other topic that Milton writes about and that is the idea of a Satanic Trinity. The Satanic Trinity shows how the evil of Hell spread to Earth and how it tempts us in our everyday life. Milton writes about the Satanic Trinity because he believes that one must understandRead MoreJohn Miltons Theodicy in Paradise Lost595 Words   |  2 PagesParadise Lost is an epic of John Milton, a seventeenth century English author, known for being the greatest reader in English history. 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