“sober certainty of waking bliss”

So for some reason I’ve been in a Milton-rut for the past few days; I’m not sure if I have just suddenly hit that “holy crap I have a ton of stuff to do” point and that’s distracting me, or if I am simply struggling with Paradise Lost. I’ve been reading it, keeping up, etc., but the whole time I have been feeling like I’m missing something. It’s just not clicking like the poetry did. I’ve been thinking about why I’m having so much trouble and not really enjoying PL, and have realized that it’s probably a combination of stressed-out and simply not reading it very well (I really enjoyed and got something out of our discussions on Thursday during class, so I know I’m not being a total dunce). So in order to solve my problems, I decided that listening to someone read the text and reading along might help and it really really did. I may not have anything insightful to say but I did get a lot more out of it by hearing it and reading it at the same time. I listened to it here and it’s really cool: a bunch of different people from around the world have recorded the entire work (and there are a ton of other books recorded on the website too). I figured someone else might find this cool or useful.

Book 2 is pretty amazing. It really made me think; I have a million questions. But, first of all, this book really reinforced the similarities that exist between Satan, the other fallen angels and human beings. As described by Milton, Satan’s faults are ones I have also suffered. He is vain and proud (”to pursue/vain war with heaven, and by success untaught/His proud imaginations thus displayed,” Book II, Lines 9-10) and his fallen colleagues are jealous (”he lordly sits/our envied sovereign,” Book II, Lines 243-244), and hateful (”how wearisome/Eternity so spent in worship paid to whom we hate,” Book II, Lines 248-249). They contemplate starting another war against heaven to get revenge against God for their fall, but decide that their vengeance will best be obtained by bringing harm to God’s new creation: man. They also like this option because it is easier than fighting again…basically, they are lazy! (”Thither let us bend all our thoughts, to learn/ What creatures there inhabit, of what mould,/or substance, how endured, and what their power,/ And where their weakness, how attempted best,/By force or subtlety” Book II, Lines 354-358). They didn’t get their way and now they want to get back at God, but because they are weaker they want to get back at him in an easier way. They are so passive aggressive! They want to hurt God by either controlling men or bringing them to their side against Him (”This would surpass/Common revenge, and interrupt his joy/ In our confusion, and our joy upraise/ In his disturbance; when his darling sons/…shall curse/ Their fair originals” (Book II, Lines 370-375). They actually remind me of children at their worst moments, because children haven’t really learned that the world isn’t always fair and that they won’t always get what they want. They don’t know that they need to obey their parents because the parents really do know what best… God here really is the father, and Satan and the other fallen ones have failed to stop having the tantrum. Kids will get tired out, eventually feel the need to be comforted by mom or dad; after all what they give you is always worth what they take away, at least when you’re six. But many adults feel these emotions too. Perhaps the best way to see Satan is as someone who let their emotions get the better of them…forever. Absolutely failing to let reason take over, hating himself so much that he cannot even give himself a rest by giving in. Talk about exhausting.

I also found it fascinating that Milton make Satan so attractive. I know we talked about this a little bit in class, but for me this came up again in book 2. For example, I am really drawn to Satan when Milton describes him like this: “And princely counsel in his face yet shone,/ Majestic though in ruin: sage he stood/ With Atlantean shoulders fit to bear/ The weight of mightiest monarchies; his look/Drew audience and attention still as night/Or summer’s noontide air, while thus he spoke” (Book II, Lines 304-309). I mean, I want to hear this guy talk too! Why does Milton do this? And why does Milton talk about Satan first, in Book 1 and Book 2? I like Satan….I begin PL with sympathies for this character (who I know, logically, is the villain, I’ve read the Bible, existed on Earth, etc.)! Milton! Ugh! He’s playing around with my emotions! Is Milton doing this on purpose? Is he actually mimicking the fall and redemption through his readers? Because right now I am pretty aware of being seduced by these unsavory characters…will I be redeemed later when Milton shows me God and Adam and Eve? Will I like them more? Will Satan actually do something that causes me to hate/fear/dislike/avoid him like I should? Is Milton messing with his readers’ minds? (The answer is yes for this reader, I’m fairly sure).

Another part that makes me go, “Um, Milton, what’s up with this?! Are you secretly rooting for Satan too?!” is lines 250 to 255. The fallen angels are looking for freedom, they think that they can best be free by having no one to be accountable to, by serving no one but themselves. Isn’t this what Milton most desires? Freedom to decide issues individually, without outside pressures restricting? He sort of says that this isn’t a good idea, what the fallen are suggesting here, but it’s not very convincing. He makes me so confused about how to feel about Satan and Hell, etc.

I think I’ll write a separate post about hell and Milton’s descriptions, because I thought they were really cool.