A Detailed Exposition of Milton’s “Paradise Lost”

By Daniel Zimmermann

This e-book gives a brief summary of "Paradise Lost," followed by detailed summaries of each of its ten books. The epic begins with Satan's plot to destroy the innocence of God's newly created world. He escapes from hell and crosses the realm of Chaos. When he comes to the Garden of Eden, he troubles the sleep of Eve with seductive dreams. Angels find him and chase him away.
God sends Raphael to warn Adam and Eve about the plot of Satan. He tells Adam how Satan was once an angel in heaven, but he did not want to worship the Son of God and started a rebellion. In the ensuing war, he and his followers were cast out of heaven and consigned to hell.
The devil returned, entered into a serpent, and persuaded Eve to disobey God. Adam likewise fell into sin. God sent his Son to deal with them. The Son tempered justice with mercy, promising that they would eventually be redeemed.
The angel Michael then came to the Garden of Eden. He showed Adam the future history of the human race and its eventual salvation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Aug 15, 2014
• ISBN: 9781312437227

Book preview

A Detailed Exposition of Milton’s “Paradise Lost”

A  Detailed Exposition of Milton’s Paradise Lost

By Daniel Zimmermann

Chapter I: Overview

A Brief Summary of Paradise Lost

Paradise Lost is an epic of John Milton, a seventeenth century English author. It reaches back into eternity, describing the rebellion of Satan, the subsequent war in heaven, and the defeat of Satan and his hosts at the hands of the Son of God. The epic also describes the creation of the world, the happy life of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and their loss of innocence when they succumb to the temptations of Satan. It concludes on a hopeful note when Michael shows Adam the future history of the human race, which culminates in the saving work of the Son of God.

In true epic style, Milton does not begin at the beginning. He chooses a pivotal moment after the conclusion of Satan's unsuccessful war in heaven and before he begins his efforts to ruin God's newly created world.

Book One

After his expulsion from heaven, Satan and his followers find themselves chained to a fiery lake in hell. By the permission of the Almighty, Satan and Beelzebub, his second in command, manage to free themselves and fly to solid ground.

Satan then summons his followers. When they are assembled before him, he delivers an encouraging speech.

The fallen angels soon learn that there is plenty of gold in the soil of hell. Led by Mammon, they embark on an extensive mining operation.

After assembling sufficient materials, they construct a magnificent edifice called Pandemonium.

Book Two

The fallen angels assemble in Pandemonium for a conference. During the ensuing debate, Moloch advocates open warfare with the Almighty. Belial advocates peace. He hopes that the wrath of the Almighty will eventually become less fierce, and he figures that they will eventually get used to hell. Mammon also favors peace. Since the soil of hell is rich in gold and gems, he thinks that with proper industry they can make hell a comfortable place in which to live.

Beelzebub then rises and offers a suggestion that originated in the mind of Satan himself. He suggests that they try to win a better home in a new world created for a race called man. The assembly agrees, and Satan volunteers to go to the new world for reconnaissance purposes.

While his followers divert themselves in various ways, Satan sets out on his difficult journey. He must first get out of hell, the gates of which are guarded by Sin and Death. Since Sin is the offspring and paramour of Satan and since Death is also his offspring, they decide to cooperate with him. Sin opens the gates of hell, and Satan makes the difficult journey across the kingdom of Chaos to the realms of light.

Book Three

In heaven, the Father informs the assembled angels that Satan is about to seduce mankind. He has resolved to show mercy, and asks who is willing to suffer the punishment for man's sin. The Son of God eagerly agrees do be the Redeemer of the human race.

In the meantime, Satan reaches the outer boundary of the created universe. It is uninhabited when he arrives, but it is destined to become the Paradise of Fools, a limbo inhabited by various classes of people not sent to heaven or to hell.

Eventually he penetrates into the interior of the universe. He disguises himself as an angel of light and deceives the archangel Uriel, who tells Satan where the abode of man is located. He is on his way to the Garden of Eden as the third book comes to a close.

Book Four

Uriel watches as Satan descends to earth. Satan's emotions and gestures show Uriel that he is not really an angel of light.

Satan enters the Garden of Eden by leaping over a wall that surrounds it. He listens to a conversation between Adam and Eve and learns that God has forbidden them to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. He decides to tempt them to disobey this command of God.

Gabriel and his hosts are guarding the east gate of the Garden of Eden. Uriel warns Gabriel that one of the fallen angels has escaped from hell and is heading for the garden.

At night, Gabriel tells the angels under his command to look for the intruder. Ithuriel and Zephon find him as he is crouching by the ear of Eve and disturbing her dreams. They conduct him to Gabriel, who chases him from the garden.

Book Five

During the night, Eve has dreamt that an angel persuades her to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. She tells Adam her dream in the morning. They take comfort in the fact that it is only a dream - a dream of which Eve does not approve.

God sends Raphael to warn Adam and Eve about the temptations to which Satan will subject them. When Raphael comes to the garden, Adam and Eve receive him with due hospitality.

In the course of their conversation, Raphael tells Adam that Satan used to be an angel of light. However, when God commanded the hosts of heaven to honor His Son, Satan rebelled against God. He tricked the hosts under his command to march northward in the middle of the night to the place where his palace was located. When they arrived, he uttered a persuasive speech, urging them to rebel against God.

Of all the hosts that heard Satan's speech, only Abdiel objected. After boldly testifying against Satan, he hastened to warn his comrades about the danger that they were facing.

Book Six

In the sixth book, Raphael continues to tell Adam about Satan's rebellion.

When Abdiel returned, everyone rejoiced that he had not been lost. God commended him for his faithful testimony.

The heavenly hosts then set out to meet the hosts of Satan. In the first day of the war in heaven, Satan and his followers were badly buffeted. A highlight was individual combat between Michael and Satan. Michael won the contest.

Both sides quickly recovered from the wounds that they received. However, whereas the faithful angels felt no discomfort when they were wounded, the hosts of Satan were no longer exempt from pain because of the effects of sin.

During the night, Satan and his hosts made engines of war with which they could shoot missiles at the opposing forces. At first, these engines produced the desired effect. The faithful angels had trouble dodging the missiles because their mobility was hampered by the