Milton and the Corruption of Good
An assessment of Milton's definition of evil in Paradise Lost.
Corruption of Good
In Milton?s view, from the first two books of Paradise Lost, the definition of evil is the corruption of good.? Milton?s definition of evil is apparent in the corruption of character and morals of some of God?s angels, essentially Satan and his followers.? Satan and his followers were all once good in character and morals.? Milton uses Satan, the central character, as the epitome of evil.?? Satan?s fall from heaven, in the beginning of Paradise Lost, is the catalyst to him becoming truly evil, giving in to the corruption of his character and morals.? The corruption of Satan?s character has resulted in him becoming excessively proud. Satan?s pride is excessive to the point that he believes that he is more powerful than God.? Another example of Satan?s corrupt character is his greed and envy of God.? Satan wants all that is God?s.? He believes that he deserves all the power and glory of God.? The corruption of Satan?s character, his greed and pride result in his rebellion from God and thus his expulsion from Heaven. God has banished Satan and his followers as punishment for their rebellion.? By banishing Satan, God has wounded Satan?s pride, foiled his greed and with this, incited Satan?s desire for vengeance on God for his mistreatment.? Corruption of Satan?s morals is apparent in his desire to work against God and all good at any cost.?? It is this moral inversion and corruption of character that brings Satan to become evil.?? Satan portrays Milton?s implicit view of evil as an example of good corrupted.
In heaven, in the beginning of book one of Paradise Lost, Satan is too proud to be a subject of God?s.? Instead, Satan wishes to be a ruler and to have subjects of his own, as C. S. Lewis states in chapter ten of, A Preface to Paradise Lost.? Milton uses Satan corrupt character, his pride, as a view of evil in Paradise Lost.? Satan?s character is so corrupt that, his excessive pride has him believing that he is more powerful than God (I, 37-49) and deserves to rule.? This inspires him to attempt at overthrowing God.? God though, proves to be more powerful and banishes Satan and his followers from heaven.? This banishment severely wounds Satan?s pride.? Wounded pride forces Satan to tell himself that they have not lost everything (I, 106); his pride won=t let him give up.?? As well, Satan?s pride will never allow him to repent to God, and he vows never to repent (I, 110-113).?? This is a vow that Satan?s pride holds him to.? In Book Two of Paradise Lost, Satan is the one who volunteers to leave hell in search of man and earth.? Satan?s pride compels him to extract revenge on God at any cost.? He risks his own life by leaving hell to be able to get revenge on God.? Milton uses Satan?s corrupted character, his excessive pride, to portray his implicit view of evil.
The power and riches of heaven have tempted Satan and his followers.? Their character corrupt is enough that, their greed allows them to try to take from God what they want and desire. ?This corruption of Satan and his follower?s character, their greed is another view of evil presented by Milton in Paradise Lost.? Satan himself believed that he deserved all that was God?s.?? In addition one of Satan?s followers Mammon was so greedy that, even in heaven he was constantly looking down at the golden pavement and thinking about gold, instead of things divine (I, 680-683).?? When God took heaven and its riches from Satan and his followers, they searched instead for other riches in hell.? They dug ore, gold and other metals from ?the bowels of thir mother Earth? (I, 686).? Milton uses a metaphor of a living body to describe Satan and his follower?s greed to remove the gold and metals.? They then, build themselves a palace, Pandemonium with the riches they found.? Satan and his followers, now with their own golden palace reveled in their found power and riches like Princes (I, 735).? Greed is another corrupt characteristic of Satan and his follower?s.? Milton uses greed as another implicit view of evil.
Banished from heaven and alienated from God, Satan is angry and wants to retaliate against God.? At this point in the beginning of Paradise Lost Satan?s character has become so corrupt that he will do anything to get revenge.? Satan is even willing to sacrifice his morals.? Moral corruption is another of Milton?s implicit view of evil in Paradise Lost.? Satan chooses to extract revenge on God by becoming corrupt morally.? He chooses to work against God and all good (I, 159-165).? He also, decides that it is ?better to reign in hell, then to serve in heaven? (I, 263).? Satan?s morals by now are so corrupt that he is willing to do anything to get back at God.? In book two of Paradise Lost, Satan and his followers discuss ways to retaliate against God. ?After lengthy discussion, they choose instead of war, attack God?s creation, mankind.? Their goal for mankind is to ?seduce them to our party, that thir God may prove thir foe? (I, 367-368).? Milton shows the depth of their moral inversion through an epic catalogue of ways they plan to corrupt mankind.? These plans, to bring ?evil to others? (II, 116), are their greatest moral inversion.? Satan is the most evil, the most corrupt of all the fallen angels.?? He is the one who chooses to carry out the first portion of the plan, to find and corrupt man.? Book two, of Paradise Lost ends with Satan leaving on his morally corrupt journey.? Moral corruption is Milton?s final implicit view of evil in Paradise Lost.
Satan was once one of the most blessed angels of God.? Through the corruption of his character, the development of his pride, greed and his moral inversion, Satan quickly became the arch enemy of God.? Greed and pride caused Satan to rebel from God.? Satan?s moral inversion caused him to work against God and all that is good at any cost.? Milton?s definition of evil is good that has become corrupted.? Satan is the epitome of Milton=s definition of evil.? Satan was once good but become corrupted.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Abrams, M.H. The Norton Anthology of English Literature 7th ed.? USA: W. W. Norton and Company, 2001.
Lewis, C. S. A Preface to Paradise Lost. London: Oxford University Press, 1942
Loewenstein, David. Milton Paradise Lost. Great Britain: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
Paradise Lost Study Guide. http://www.paradiselost.org , 1999
MacCaffrey, Isabel Gamble. Paradise Lost as AMyth@. USA: Harvard University Press, 1959
Fish, Stanley. How Milton Works. USA: Fellows of Harvard, 2001.
Hunter, G. K. Paradise Lost. Great Britain: George Allan & Unwin Ltd., 1980.
Fish, Stanley. Surprised by Sin: The Reader in Paradise Lost. New York: Macmillan and Company Limited, 1967.
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