Speech and Deception in John Miltons Paradise Lost Essay

Speech and Deception in Miltons Paradise Lost Rhetoric and sophistry testify to the fact that the world in which we live is a world of speech, that the clever man can compose at will in order to trick others. 1 Speech was perhaps the most important medium for Milton. As a blind poet, his lack of visual faculties was augmented by a renewed importance on auditory paths to enlightenment, especially the communicative. Therefore, contemplation of dialogue in Paradise Lost becomes an essential tool for developing a correct understanding of the characters, as Milton would have intended. Nowhere is this truer than with the character of Satan. Throughout the text, his rhetoric exists as a window to the nature of his†¦show more content†¦In addition, here, as throughout much the poem, Satan continues to hedge the other side of the argument, insisting that he isnt forced to do evil by opposing God, but that to do ill our sole delight (160). This belief that he has a choice in the matter is tied up in the misconception that he was, and continues to be, equal to God, as reason hath equalld (248) them. Quite to the contrary, Milton makes it clear that the will And high permissio n of all-ruling Heaven Left him at large to his own dark designs (211-3). And it is only Satans perverted sense of reason that convinces him that The mind is its own place, and in itself Can make a Heavn of Hell, a Hell of Heavn (254-5). He believes that his reason and contemplation will help him discover How overcome this dire Calamity (189), or failing that, change his will such that it fits his current circumstance. This is the classic method of the delusional and disenfranchised, holding out hope for change, but at the same time putting forth the belief that the current situation can actually be beneficial. The sophistry has shown through Satans speech, as he declares that there is no way for God to beat him, in his mind, when we know he is already defeated. Perhaps even more telling are the conversations Satan has with himself. Modern thinkers rightfully consider of great importance the times when man speaks to parts of his ownShow MoreRelatedJohn Milton Opens Paradise Lost Essay2170 Words   |  9 Pages As John Milton opens Paradise lost with a brief explanation of his intent, he makes a very ambitious statement of his goal, claiming that his book would be sufficient means by which â€Å"[He might] assert Eternal Providence, / And justify the ways of God to men† (Paradise Lost 1.25-26). So the reader should treat his epic poem as the attempted justification that it is, and ask themselves this: does this argument successfully justify God’s ways? A key—perhaps even the key—part of Milton’s book, and thereforeRead More Discuss Milton’s presentation of Satan in Paradise Lost Essay2739 Words   |  11 PagesDiscuss Milton’s presentation of Satan in Paradise Lost There has been considerable critical interest in the figure of Satan in Paradise Lost, and in the possibility that he may be the true hero of the epic poem. The opening of the poem finds Milton in a tough spot: writing an epic poem without an epic hero in sight. In order to achieve a rationally balanced poem, he wants to let the first half rise from Hell through Chaos and towards Heaven, thereby balancing the fall of humankind in theRead More Sin and Death in John Miltons Paradise Lost Essay2270 Words   |  10 PagesSin and Death in Paradise Lost      Ã‚  Ã‚   Abstract: Death assumes in his original argument, with most readers of Paradise Lost, that Satan is all bad, having rejected God, and presumably that his charisma is illusory. Sin assumes, with Empson, that Satans entire career, including his corruption of Eve, is the project of an all-powerful and sinister God. By the time Satan gets to Mt. Niphates in Book IV he is convinced of both; he recognizes that his misery is his own fault for rejecting