COVE

This Gallery is focused on John Milton's Paradise Lost, which is based primarily on Genesis chapters 1-3 in the Bible.

About the Author:

Plate 1 shows a painting of Milton done by either Mary Beale or Peter Lely during his years at Christ's College, Cambridge. John Milton was born on December 9, 1608, in London, England. Milton attended St. Paul’s school in 1620 as a youth and later was enrolled at Christ’s College, Cambridge where he graduated in 1629 with a B.A. and in 1632 with an M.A. It was likely that he was studying to join the ministry, but after the completion of his education opted not to. After this, Milton spent the next six years living with his parents in Hammersmith and later Buckinghamshire while he wrote and studied independently. In 1638 Milton embarked on a trip to Europe, where he stayed mostly in Rome and Florence in Italy. He returned to England in 1639 due to fears of civil war at home. Milton wrote five pieces on the reformation of the Church after returning home. In these writings, Milton eschews the authority of the monarchy and the Church and endorses the Bible as the most authoritative thing. Milton, as a Puritan, viewed established religion negatively. It was during this time, in 1642, that Milton married Mary Powell, with whom he had four children. In 1652, Powell died and Milton became blind. During this period (1648-1653) Milton made pamphlets against the monarchy and the Church of England and supported the anti-Royalists in the English Civil wars (1642-1652). In 1656, Milton married Katherine Woodcock, who died after only fifteen months of marriage. Milton was imprisoned in 1659 due to his role in the fall of Charles I during the civil war, and he narrowly escaped execution. After his release from prison, Milton then married Elizabeth Minshull in 1663 who helped him by reading him books and dictating his words. It was during this period that Milton composed Paradise Lost, which was published in 1667 and then a revised version was republished in 1674. Milton died just a little while later in November 1674 from gout. 

Plot Summary:

Plate 2 depicts Satan thinking on his fall and how he will take his revenge against God. Paradise Lost is  based on the story of Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden from Genesis in the Old Testament in the Bible. It opens with Satan and his fellow rebels in Hell after their defeat by God in a battle for Heaven. Satan vows revenge and, based on advice from the demon Beelzebub, goes out to corrupt God’s paradise. Satan sneaks into the Garden of Eden and makes several attempts to trick Eve into eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, disguising himself as a cherub, a bird, a toad, and a serpent. Satan is found out every time and is forced to leave the garden until he succeeds in tricking Eve while he is in the form of a Serpent. Adam, knowing that Eve will be made to leave Eden, also eats the fruit. Adam and Eve are forced to leave paradise, but before they do, the angel Michael puts Eve to sleep and shows Adam that humans will redeem themselves by showing him visions of Moses, Noah, and other important figures of faith. Adam and Eve then leave the Garden of Eden and are condemned to pain and eventual death. Satan returns to Hell victorious, releasing Sin and Death into the world. 

Close Reading of Biblical Material:

Plate 3 is a painting of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Paradise Lost opens with Satan and his fellow fallen angels in Hell, Milton likely pulled this detail of the fall of Satan from Isaiah 14: “How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit on the mount of assembly on the heights of Zaphon; I will ascend to the tops of the clouds, I will make myself like the Most High.’ But you are brought down to Sheol, to the depths of the Pit.” (Isaiah 14.12-15). This is the point where Milton’s story picks up, after Satan has completed his journey into the Pit. Satan is not really filled out as a character here. He has no dialogue and no emotion; there is only his act of rebellion and his descension. Satan as an individual is really fleshed out in Paradise Lost in a way that simply is not present in the Bible. 

Paradise Lost is primarily based on the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 1-3. In Genesis 1, God creates the world, light and dark, land and water, and animals and humans. He gives the world to humans to rule over, and He sees that his creation is good. In Genesis 2, God creates the Garden of Eden and places man in it to look after it. He warns Adam and Eve that they should not eat from the Tree of Knowledge and that they may eat from any other tree in the garden. In Genesis 3, the serpent, crafted by god, tricks Eve into eating from the Tree of Knowledge. Eve then gives Adam fruit from the tree, and they both realize their nakedness and clothe themselves with fig leaves. God comes to the garden and finds out what has happened and punishes the serpent by dooming him to crawl on the ground, eat dust, and to be an enemy of mankind. God punishes Eve by giving her and women in the future pain during childbirth and making women subservient to their husbands. God punishes Adam and mankind in general by forcing them to work for their food and to eventually die. After meting out these punishments, God expels Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. 

This story of the origin of original sin and of the origins of mankind in general brings up a lot of questions about authority and morality and their role in Adam and Eve’s fall from paradise. God has created everything and everything that He has created is good, yet it is one of God’s creations, the serpent, that leads to the doom of Adam and Eve. God does little to even warn Adam and Eve of the dangers present in His creation. He warns them to not eat the fruit of the tree, yes, but does little else to aid them. Had Adam and Eve known that they may be tricked or that they would undergo any sort of manipulation, they may have been able to avoid eating from the Tree of Knowledge. Arguably, it was God’s duty as the authority in the story to look after Adam and Eve and ensure that they were pure but also educated. Another thing to consider is that this story is a way that Biblical writers can communicate the weight of our actions in the world. As God says in Genesis 3: “See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever” (Genesis 3.22). Since mankind has been given knowledge and intelligence, might they now be more responsible than ever for their actions? It is these kinds of questions that Milton tackles in his retelling of the story of Adam and Eve in his epic poem, Paradise Lost. 

Intertextuality:

Plate 4 depicts Satan being driven from heaven by the angels faithful to God. In Paradise Lost, John Milton retells the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, but focuses especially on fleshing out the characters in a more complete fashion. For example, Satan is given far more attention than he receives in the Bible. He and his fellow fallen angels are shown planning in Hell on how to get back at God, Satan vows revenge and then goes out to paradise to corrupt God’s creation. Rather than God’s creation, the serpent, tricking Adam and Eve, Satan himself does so. This makes more sense from a narrative standpoint as instead of God dooming his creations with his own creation, a jealous Satan is looking to ruin something God cares for. Satan is a big narrative focus in Paradise Lost while he is mentioned rarely in the Bible, and not at all in the creation story. Another derivation that Milton makes is the multiple attempts of Satan to corrupt Adam and Eve. He takes the form of a cherub, a bird, a toad, and a snake. He is thrown out In this way, Satan, and the story of Adam and Eve in general, becomes more realistic and more human. 

Another interesting element that Milton includes is the separation of the God in Genesis into two beings, God and the Son. The Son is a more active version of God, He creates the universe out of chaos and it is he who does God’s work. He is also more compassionate. In Genesis, God gives Adam and Eve clothing but in Milton’s story, it is the Son. Milton has effectively separated the two sides of God, the cold and the compassionate. 

Milton also gives the archangels a more active role in the creation story. The four of them, Rapheal, Uriel, Gabriel, and Michael, guard paradise and subsequently Adam and Eve from Satan and the outside world. They advise Adam and guide him on the correct path. In Paradise Lost, the Son sends Rapheal to warn Adam and Eve of the dangers of Satan whereas in the Bible there is no aid sent from God. In Paradise Lost, the Son also sends Michael to show Adam visions of the future where mankind redeems itself. Uriel and Gabriel simply guard paradise and Adam and Eve.  

The elements that Milton adds to the story of Adam and Eve make the characters seem more realistic. The story of Satan’s fall from grace and subsequent revenge, the character of the Son, the choice of Adam to be damned with Eve, and the archangels and their attempts to help Adam and Eve serve to create a more compelling narrative and invite the reader to consider the role of authority and the cut and dry version of the story in Genesis is an indictment of God and His lack of care in looking after His creation. Paradise Lost is more ambiguous in its telling, and instead of the blame being on Adam and Eve, some blame falls to God and his angels. 

Works Cited:

Milton, John. Paradise Lost. Edited by John Leonard, Penguin Books, 2003.

Labriola, Albert C. “John Milton.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 6 Apr. 2025, www.britannica.com/biography/John-Milton.

Biography.com Editors. “John Milton.” Biography.Com, A&E, 15 Aug. 2019, www.biography.com/authors-writers/john-milton.

Images: 

1 - John Milton Christ's College - Public domain portrait painting - PICRYL - Public Domain Media Search Engine Public Domain Image - Beale, Mary OR Lely, Peter. Hall Portrait of John Milton. Christ's College, Cambridge.

2 - File:Satanparadiselost.jpg - Wikimedia Commons - Dore, Gustav. Satan from John Milton’s Paradise Lost. Wikimedia Commons.

3 - Eden | Wenzel Peter, Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden | Eden, Janine and Jim | Flickr - Wenzel, Peter. Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Flickr, https://www.flickr.com/photos/edenpictures/44293137431.

4 - Paradise Lost 1 - Drawing. Public domain image. - PICRYL - Public Domain Media Search Engine Public Domain Image - Dore, Gustav. Archangel Michael. Wikimedia Commons.