A Comparison of Sins: An Examination of John Miltons Paradise Lost - Book Report/Review Example

Client A Comparison of Sins: An Examination of John Milton’s Paradise Lost The poem Paradise Lost by John Milton is a study of the nature of man as seen through the metaphorical experience of the myths of Satan and embellished with themes that can be found in pagan myths. This epic poem takes its basic structure from classic Greek writings of the same form and incorporates many classical concepts from the poems of that period. Originally published in 1667 in ten volumes, it was revised by Milton to twelve volumes which became its final published form in 1674 (Milton and Dore lviii). Milton took the basic stories of Genesis and created an embellished piece with concepts derived from other sources beyond the Bible. In comparing two events within the poem, the story Sin, Satan and Death, and the story of Adam and Eve, one can find an exploration of the psychology of guilt and shame. As well, these two mythologies allow for the exploration of gender cultural differences concerning birth, sin and death. The central theme of the story of Adam and Eve can be interpreted for the way in which humanity must deal with the concept of feeling outside of grace. Because of the feelings of shame and guilt that exist within the basic psychological framework of the Judeo-Christian culture , a sense of being held outside of God’s grace is prevalent. The story of being driven from the Garden of Eden by an act that seems innocent, but defied a directive from God, develops the Client Last Name 2 underlying concept that humanity in this culture feels that an unknown source of guilt created a shame from which all subsequent men and women must endure separation from the Garden. In comparing the basic stories of both Satan and of Adam and Eve, one can first see that each was driven from their home for acts against God. Satan was driven from Heaven for his actions and Adam and Eve were driven from the Garden of Eden for their actions. The tie between the two events is the manipulation of Satan to open the eyes of Adam and Eve to their own shame at being naked. Having had their eyes opened to shame, guilt becomes a known concept and their innocence is shattered. Having lost his grace and fallen from Heaven, one might conclude that Satan suffered from the same exposure to shame and subsequent lessons of guilt. Satan was made “As far removed from God and light of heaven, As from the centre thrice to the utmost pole, Oh how unlike the place from whence they fell!“(Milton and Dore 4). Therefore, the concepts of the experiences of Satan and Adam and Eve are initially very similar. In Milton’s version, a new story is developed that can be considered the birth of fear. According to the writing, Satan encounters his daughter Sin as he travels from Hell to Earth in order to begin his war with God. Sin tells him the story of their relationship. Sin tells her father that she was born having sprung from his head, which is obviously derived from the Greek mythologies of Athena having been born from Zeus’ head after he had devoured her pregnant mother (Burkert 142). It is also revealed that Sin gave birth to a son that was conceived with Satan that is called Death. Death is conceived in an act of incest that was born of passions that Satan allowed to be released and not restrained. Death is described as having torn himself from her body and then having turned Client Last Name 3 against her to commit rape against her at his first opportunity. The wounds that she received during this act were such that hell-dogs were attracted to her and now continue to endlessly gnaw at her bowels which gives her the appearance of a woman from the waist up and a pack of dogs from the waist down. This idea of having the bowels eaten repeatedly is also a story of Greek mythology. Tityus was condemned to have his liver eaten by vultures each day for having assaulted the goddess Leto (Paulson 47). This concept of the pagan comparisons is literally mentioned as well. Milton writes: So spake our general Mother, and with eyes Of conjugal attraction unreprov’d And meek surrender, half embracing leand On our first Father, half her swelling Breast Naked met his under the flowing Gold Of her loose tresses hid: he in delight Both of her Beauty and submissive Charms Smil’d with superior Love, as Jupiter On Juno smiles, when he impregns the Clouds (Milton and Dore 131) In direct usage of references to Roman versions of the Greek gods, Jupiter who is Zeus and Juno who is Hera, Milton is making associations with classical figures in a Judeo-Christian piece. By using this direct comparison, he is incorporating the period’s love for the classical time. Humanistic references that both create literary loft, and diminish the aspect of Christianity as a truth by connecting it to mythologies. Thus, a sense that Adam and Eve are also a myth can be drawn from the way in which this association to religious myths of other cultures has been made. As humanistic aesthetics cling to the classics, so too does it elevate the individual and diminish the need for outside searches for a relationship with God. This association allows for the ‘stories’ of Christianity to be made less important than the truths of one’s own relationship with God. This Client Last Name 4 virtue is humanistic in nature. If one looks at the story of Tityus in comparison to the story that Milton has written of Sin, one can see that the concept of shame has been changed to fall upon the female who has been attacked, rather than on her attacker. While Tityus suffers because he made an attempt to attack Leto, Sin suffers because of the attack that she endured. This change can be compared to the way in which Eve is given credit for having created the original sin of man by eating fruit of the forbidden tree. In the Judeo-Christian heritage, the shame of a woman is considered deeper than that of a man as she was the origin of sin. The concept of Original Sin is attributed to Eve as she initially gave into the manipulations of Satan. Subsequently, she then offered temptation to Adam who gave into her, thus revealing their nakedness to themselves and developing shame and guilt. This concept of woman as the perpetual temptress and man as the victim of her temptation is indicative of the point of view held by the Judeo-Christian culture that influenced Milton’s writing. So, while the attacker Tityus suffers from his belly being torn open for all eternity in the Greek writing, the victim, Sin, suffers for all eternity in Milton’s writing. As one studies the histories of Christianity, one can see the evidence of this pervading concept. When Pope Gregory I diminished Mary Magdalene by declaring that she was a whore in his homily in 581 CE (Picknett 47), a certain tone was set that would define the role of women within the Christian culture. As Eve is considered responsible for the separation of humanity from God, and the female representative of Christ’s disciples was declared a whore, the aspects of shame and guilt have been seated firmly as the responsibility of women. Thus, as the tale of Client Last Name 5 Sin is related, it is she that is punished for her part in the birth of Death. Sin is held responsible for the release of Death as if her victimization by her father Satan was because of her temptation. The two stories have the same result. Death is the ultimate outcome of the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden as they would no longer have access to the Tree of Life. Their ability to live immortal was taken from them because of their sin. The story of Sin giving birth to Death is a reflection of this principle. Death is the consequence of Sin. This further reinforces the aspect of sin being the responsibility of women. Death is the ultimate fearful experience in life. This is the aspect of the cycle of life that all men fear most. The cultural psychology of death for men is based on the idea that there must be a way around its inevitability (Carrette 63). Thus, one might ascribe the accusation that death is the result of an action of the female on this concept that men do not believe that death is a true result of nature. Women have a clearer concept of the cycle of life as they are equipped to centrally participate in the birth experience, while men are outside of this moment. This concept of being outside of the experience, of being ejected from heaven or of not experiencing the beginning of life, allows for a male perspective of denial on the consequence of death. Both the story of Satan and his daughter Sin, and the story of Adam and Eve and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden, can be understood as explanations of death outside of the realm of natural life cycles. They are mythological excuses made for the reason death is in the world. Both versions relate the idea that female weakness and the resulting vulnerability allows for sin to affect life, thus tempting men into compliance and resulting in death. The aspect of blame becomes central to the issues that are revealed in regard to shame and guilt. Women are to Client Last Name 6 blame as sinful, thus bringing death into the world. Just as death is treated with similarity in the two stories, so is the concept of birth. Both stories are once again comparable to the Greek mythology of Athena springing forth Client Last from her father Zeus’ head fully formed and grown (Burkert 142). Sin emerges fully grown from the head of Satan and is forced into a servitude that is degrading, with victimization at the core of her experience. On the other hand, Eve is given a great deal of power as it is her choice that sends mankind into a sinful state. While the character of Eve is made from the character of Adam, just as Sin is made from the character of Satan, there is a marked difference in status between the two women. Sin is clearly used as a tool by her father in order to create Death. She is not a willing participant, seduced into her consequences, but is violently used in order to create Death. Eve, on the other hand, is manipulated into her act of disobedience to God, but her action is still taken freely. Both women bring death into the experience of mankind, although Sin does it without consent, while Eve does it as a result of her own choice made after being convinced by Satan. In respect to the concept of choice, one might wonder which aspect of the bringing of Death into the world was evil: an act that was forced upon a woman, or an act that was seduced from her. The birth of Eve is described with more detail than is found within the Bible. God sends Adam into a deep sleep in order to spare him the difficulty of his intent. Unable to fully comply, Adam is in a stupor more than a deep sleep while God removes a rib through a surgical cut. In making a connection to the heart, Milton has God removing the rib from the left side as this would be closer to the organ. The rib is used to create Eve and when Adam wakes from a holy Client Last Name 7 slumber, he finds that she is fully grown and made as a companion for him. This story is the beginning of the male and female interactions on the Earth. This story sets the tone for the way in which the Judeo-Christian culture views male and female interactions. As retold by Milton, the emotional tie between Adam and Eve is evident and creates a contrast to the violent relationship of Satan and Sin. The birth of Death as described by Sin is a tale of sorrow. Milton describes the experience in the following passage. Pregnant by thee, and now excessive grown Prodigious motion felt and rueful throes. At last this odious offspring whom thou seest Thine own begotten, breaking violent way Tore through my entrails, that with fear and pain Distorted, all my nether shape thus grew Transformed (Milton and Dore 44). The experience that Satan had to endure was also full of pain. This passage describes that birth. All on a sudden miserable pain Surprised thee, dim thine eyes, and dizzy swum In darkness, while thy head flames thick and fast Threw forth, till on the left side opening wide, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Out of thy head I sprung (Milton and Dore 44). As the experience of Adam was not in pain, but done in a less violent manner, with his being rendered semi-unconscious and the forming of Eve occurring outside of his body, this birth does not carry the violence of the births of Sin and Death. Sexuality has been the evil attributed to women within these myths. In Hesiod’s Theology, Pandora from Greek mythology is considered the aspect of the female sexuality that Client Last Name 8 unleashed horrors into the world (Millet 51). As a culture, the humanistic aesthetics during the Renaissance brought these concepts of classic Greek philosophy into the Christian heritage. The writing of Paradise Lost, by John Milton reflects many aspects of Greek influences, from the use of the form of the epic poem, to the use of storylines that are derived from the Greek mythologies. As well, the poem reinforces the concept that temptation is the responsibility of women who have brought Death into the experience of life. The aspect of sin is related to the female nature and is also given as a responsibility to her gender. Even as Death rapes his daughter, it is done because he gives into his passions which overwhelm him, rather than it being described as an act he chooses, just as Death does not choose to rape his mother, but is driven to the act. The aspects of the stories of Satan and his daughter Sin and their subsequent child, Death, can be compared to the story of Adam and Eve in the way in which the themes of each tale relates the way in which Death enters the world. As well, the association to the classical works of Greek mythology can be easily identified. As the Judeo-Christian heritage is heavily influenced by the Greek and Roman concepts of culture, these aspects of the understanding and perspective of the genders and their responsibilities are also reflected. The gender perspectives on guilt and shame, as well as birth and death, can be seen in both the story of the Births of Sin and Death, and in the story of Adam and Eve. Looking at the modern perspective of male and female interactions where death is concerned, an understanding becomes evident of the mythological interpretations. As it is the nature of men to deny the power of death, while women understand it more keenly as they bring life into the world, the literature concerning the origins of death reflect Client Last Name 9 this differentiation. In John Milton’s Paradise Lost, this commentary on gender differences in belief an clearly be seen in a comparison of the story of Satan and Sin with Adam and Eve. Client Last Name 10 Works Cited Burkert, Walter. Greek Religion: Archaic and Classical. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1987. Carrette, Jeremy R. Faucalt and Religion: Spiritual Corporality and Political Spirituality. New York: Routledge, 2000. Kilborne, Benjamin. Disappearing Persons: Shame and Appearance. Albany: State Univ. of New York Press, 2002. Millett, Kate. Sexual Politics. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2000. Milton, John, and Gustave Doré. Paradise Lost. London: Cassel, 1894. Paulson, Ronald. Sin and Evil: Moral Values in Literature. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2007. Picknett, Lynn. Mary Magdalene: Christianitys Hidden Goddess. New York: Carroll & Graf, 2004. Read More