In the opening lines of Paradise Lost, Milton
announces that he is going to tackle a lofty theme of Man’s first disobedience
and fall from grace.
“Of Man’s first disobedience and the fruit
Of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste
Brought death into the world and all our woe.”
In his Invocation to Heavenly Muse, Milton
states the theme and purpose of his epic. “…I
may assert Eternal Providence/And justify the ways of God to men.” Indeed, Paradise Lost was, for Milton, the
fulfillment of his long cherished ambition.
Milton chose a towering theme for his epic which ranks it with the great
epics like those of Homer, Virgil and Dante. In his Invocation Milton resolved
that his “adventurous song” intended
to soar “with no middle flight”.
Accordingly, he invoked Heavenly Muse to inspire him so that he might be
successful in undertaking, the like of which had yet not been attempted “in prose or rhyme”.
Raleigh remarks:
“The
theme of Paradise Lost is vaster and more universal. It concerns itself with
the fortunes not of a city or an empire but the whole human race, and with that
particular event in the history of race which has moulded all its destinies.”
The story of Paradise Lost is Biblical and theme
falls into three parts—theme of disobedience, manifestation of Eternal
Providence, and justification of Divine ways. The first part of theme implies
that the obedience to God’s commandments is imperative at all costs. In
Paradise, God imposes only one condition on Adam and Eve—not to eat from the
Tree of Knowledge. The prohibition is not so much a matter of fruit of a tree
as it is obeying God’s ordinance. By not obeying God’s commandment, Adam and
Eve brought calamity into their lives, and the lives of all mankind.
Milton’s theme of Paradise Lost, however, does
end with the idea of disobedience—Milton says that he will assert Eternal
Providence. If man had never disobeyed God, death would have never entered the
world and Man would have become lesser angel. Because Adam and Eve gave into
temptation and disobeyed God, they provided an opportunity for the
manifestation of God’s love, mercy and grace so that fall ultimately produces a
greater good than would have happened otherwise.
A.C. George remarks:
“We
can state essential theme of Paradise Lost as the sustained opposition between
love and hate; God responds to the destructive challenge of Satan with the
creative expression of love…The former theme is the direct conflict of
Celestial battle and the latter is Satan’s challenge of God—indirectly through
his own creation, Man. The second theme arises out of the first.”
The doctrine of free will is such an idea which
has been insisted on consistently throughout Paradise Lost. God does not
interfere with the free will of individuals though He has free knowledge of
everything. In case of Satan too, God allowed him his freedom and;
“Left
him at large to his own dark designs
That with reiterated crimes he might
Heap on himself damnation…”
The third part of Milton’s argument is justification
of God’s ways. Touching upon this theme, Milton emphatically declares that the
nature of God is such that to turn everything, even evil, to good as when He
creates earth and men to replace rebel angels, or when He sends Christ to
redeem fallen humans. This clearly differentiates God from Satan, the great
egotist, who thinks only of his own interest; and who had vowed to revenge
himself on God by turning all good to evil. Everywhere Satan spreads his lies
about God’s tyranny and his own “injured
merit”. He pretends that laws are made by God to keep Him in power and
subjugate others.
Regarding the theme of Paradise Lost Coleridge
remarks:
“It
represents origin of evil and the combat of evil and good, it represents matter
of deep interest to all mankind, as forming basis of all religion and true
occasion of philosophy whatsoever.”
Has Milton succeeded in justifying Divine ways?
Milton, in writing Paradise Lost, had set forth the
professed idea of asserting Eternal Providence and justification of God’s ways
in boldest possible manner. So it hardly surprising that argument has undergone
vigorous scrutiny by the critics. Is Milton able to accomplish his avowed
objective? Critics are divided on this issue. One group says that Milton has succeeded
in justifying the Divine ways in the creation of Man, subsequent fall and final
redemption. The other group reverts back
to ideological dimension: Is Milton really putting himself where he can vindicate
God’s perspective on things? How can he justify God’s perspective while singing
amid violence, taking love into hell, readying himself for sacrifice, to be
destroyed by the blind desires of angry mob? For them, it is a piece of
poetical trespassing on divine ground, a hubris that fails and deserves to
fail. David Daiches points out:
“Milton’s
heart was not in that sort of justification, whatever he might have consciously
thought.”
Those critics condemn Milton that by using word
justify, Milton is arrogantly asserting that God’s motives and actions seem so
arbitrary that they need vindication and explanation. However Milton’s theme of
justifying God’s ways is not as arrogant as some critics think. Milton uses the
word justify in the sense of showing justice that underlies an action. Moreover
because of Satan’s allegations, Milton is compelled to speak God’s case to us
or in his own words to “justify the ways
of God to men”