75 pages • 2 hours read
John MiltonParadise Lost
Fiction | Novel/Book in Verse | Adult | Published in 1667A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Symbols & Motifs
Maze
Paradise Lost consistently refers to the maze in the context of pursuit of knowledge. The archangel Raphael warns Adam not to question God’s world too much lest he find himself in a maze. When Satan disguises himself as a serpent to approach Eve, he compares the slinkiness of his body to a maze. This symbol is important because it provides a rather perplexing imagery of the pursuit of knowledge. On one hand, a maze is frightening because one can get lost or trapped inside. The more you try to solve the maze, the more stuck you can become. On the other hand, mazes do have an exit, so it is possible to successfully endure and traverse the maze. The maze connotes that every answer to a question introduces another set of questions. The more you question (or search through the maze), the more you run into other problems. Those who never enter the maze in the first place are always completely safe, for they are not risking their well-being for knowledge. The maze is a warning to not get caught up in the pursuit of knowledge.
Falling/Fallen
There are many examples of both literal and metaphorical “falls” in Paradise Lost. When Satan is confronted by the Son, he chooses to jump into an abyss, thereby literally falling out of Heaven and becoming a fallen angel. But the term also works metaphorically in that Satan has fallen out of God’s high esteem and favor. When Adam and Eve commit the first sin, the same terminology is used, with this original sin inciting the fall of humanity. The metaphor also holds a second layer, given that people can try to get back up after falling. God wants his creations to ask for forgiveness when they disobey him and are punished, and so humility and repentance present one path to elevation. Finally, the repeated language and imagery of falling reinforces that Heaven is somewhere high above us, inaccessible unless we are raised to it.
Light Versus Darkness
Light and darkness are used as symbols of grace and disgrace throughout this epic poem. When Satan and Beelzebub awake from their physical fall into Hell, their only source of light is the lake of fire that adds more shadows to the darkness of Hell. It’s so dark that Satan can’t even see how much he has physically changed. This darkness is juxtaposed with the pure light of Heaven. Light is especially important when God creates Earth, as his first decree is to establish light. When he sees the importance of balancing darkness and lightness, God creates days. There is also a metaphorical darkness and lightness at play in Adam and Eve’s fall. In Paradise, before their original sin, they feel light in their hearts and souls, but after their fall, they are heavy with inner darkness and turmoil. This suggests that the binary between light and darkness is important in identifying love for God versus hatred for the self.
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By John Milton
