The Dreams in Paradise Lost by John Milton - Book Report/Review Example

Paradise Lost Order No. 255898 No. of pages: 4 Premium 6530 Dreams The dreams in Paradise Lost constitute a very important narrative role in this epic by John Milton. Like most of the literature of those days, the dreams in this work have their origins in either Biblical or classical literature. There are a total of four dreams in the poem, of which Adam has two divine ones while Eve has one before the fall and one after it. In Paradise Lost dreams are used in their conventional sense with none of the mumbo-jumbo of modern psychology attached to them and they have only a literary purpose. The dreams in Paradise Lost occur during sleep, which is the traditional domain of dreams and concur with the definition of “a vision during sleep” (O.E.D.) as well as being a vision not seen by ordinary sight. Looking at these dreams in the sequence in which they occur, their purpose is to move the tale forward, and so we have Adam dreaming twice-the first one is the dream of Eden while the second one is of Eve. Eve too has two dreams, of which the first is of her eating the forbidden fruit, while her second one bestows God’s grace and forgiveness on her. The dreams are idealization of life before the fall and the life that is to come hence. Adam’s first dream is transformational since upon waking up he is transported to Paradise, both in the physical and spiritual sense. It is God’s way of communicating with his child and is, in the words of Manfred Weidhorn “objective”. The dream gives Adam his first chance to understand God while simultaneously transforming him with its assurance that God is constantly around him. Adam finds himself moving closer to God because he is re-assured that the purpose of his existence is a higher objective and he is being guided by “some great Maker” whom he wishes to worship. This subservient attitude of Adam is also a stark contrast to Satan’s pride which led to his fall. The dream serves to educate Adam and is “a prologue to divine education” (Mc Colgan) which is soon disseminated by a divine presence and affirms that no human being could have had a better dream. The first dream of Eve on the other hand, was the handiwork of Satan and caused her much consternation. Adam’s dreams created by God, comforted and assured him, while this dream of Eve is infernal and agitated her spirit. Satan disguises himself as an angel and questions Eve about the Forbidden fruit and tempts her to pluck a fruit off the tree and eat it. In her dream, Eve follows the devil’s actions, but as she herself confesses to Adam, she was relieved “to find this but a dream”. Eve’s fear and relief about the dream re-assures Adam that she cannot be tempted but her disheveled look upon waking up does not justify this belief. Tillyard feels that Eve at this point has already succumbed. This dream does not have a scriptural precedent but only heightens the tension as to what damnation the actual event will bring. Milton uses this dream to illustrate Eve’s pride and vanity but the central character is Satan. According to Mc. Colgan, the dream is indicative of Satan’s fall who is ready to conjoin “exaltation and disobedience” by promising Eve greater knowledge if she breaches the rules of conduct. The dreams in Paradise Lost are a glimpse into postlapsarian life and reveal to its readers the infinite mercy of God and carry humanity from the jaws of temptation into a life suffused with divine grace. Compare and contrast Miltons characterization of God, Satan, heaven, and hell. The crux of the poem rests heavily on the consequences that led to the temptation of Adam and Eve, the main characters in this poem by the vile serpent (Satan) and their expulsion from God’s beautiful Garden of Eden. According to Milton, the purpose of this epic poem was to "justify the ways of God to men." (Milton, 1674, 4:26) and also to emphasize the conflicts that takes place between God and man. The chief protagonist of the beautiful epic is Satan, the fallen angel whom he portrays as an extremely proud and overly ambitious character who tries to supersede his own creator by waging war on the omnipotent God in Heaven. Milton includes the aspect of paganism while trying to grapple with many different theological issues involving fate and the Trinity. Paradise Lost is believed to be the outcome of the failure of rebellion that took place and the reinstating of the Monarchy which was a sore point for Milton since he worked for the Parliament of England. Paradise Lost gives us an insight into the traits which separate God from Satan and the graphic dissimilarities between heaven and hell. John Milton has used his extensive knowledge of the Bible as well as other pagan sources to embellish his rendition of these two polar opposites which are an important crux of the epic. Milton relied on the Christian texts to portray God and Heaven while the classical texts were used as a basis for his depiction for Satan and Hell. At the beginning of his invocation itself he says that what he is writing is “unattempted yet in prose or rhyme" (1.16) and thus as a novice he has to look towards the classical tradition to render his Christian epic. The God of Milton is akin to a heavenly king who expects total subservience from his loyal children in lieu of the graces and gifts with which He blesses them. God’s paradise is a sanctuary for his novel creation –man- and He expects an implicit faith in the adherence of rules made by Him. God’s guardian of this realm is the Christ himself, who promises to give “life for life”. Satan is an epitome of the Christian concept of evil, but Milton uses classical references to describe Satan. The Hell over which Satan rules is enveloped in darkness, much like his soul, and even though he wants to escape from it he is unable to do so because "Which way I fly is hell; myself am hell" (4.75). Milton’s Hell is a dreadful place in spite of its palace and throne because it is far removed from God and lies at the bottom of the universe. Satan is a flawed entity whose defiance of God makes him the object of our unwilling admiration. By making Satan appeal to readers Milton is warning us of the seductive nature of evil and the need for constant vigilance. A good example of the pompous attitude of Satan can be seen in the following lines when he says, “Ill climb to heaven and place my throne above the highest stars. Ill sit there with the gods far away in the north. 14Ill be above the clouds, just like God Most High." Milton’s depiction of God is more an amalgamation of abstractions and we are perplexed at His sanction for the fall, but soon come to believe that inspite of the evils occurring around us He will save us. ‘Paradise Lost’ one of John Milton’s greatest epics of all time, is certainly not the first epic to integrate a dual mix of Christian and traditional epic conventions. In referring to this (Abrams 1075) states that “In Paradise Lost, Milton is adept at drawing from both Christian and pagan sources and integrating them in such a way that they reinforce one another.” In his ‘Paradise Lost’ Milton weaves together both the Christian as well as the Pagan throughout the story making his choice not only political but a highly stylistic one. The poet portrays kings, monsters and heroes while drawing upon pagan tradition and Christian beliefs to present his characters as noble who are willing to battle with his enemies on Earth and therefore who are eligible for redemption. References Paradise Lost http://www.paradiselost.org/ Paradise Lost by John Milton. Search, Read, Study, Discuss. www.online-literature.com/milton/paradiselost ABSTRACT TOMS, MARCIA LYNN. “And Dreams Advise”: The Dreams in http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/theses/available/etd-06182003-211438/unrestricted/etd.pdf Read More