Paradise Lost as an Epic

          PARADISE LOST AS AN EPIC

Paradise lost is one of the great epics of the world. It was written by Milton according to the rules and principles of Aristotle and Homer which they used in their works. It is considered as Milton’s greatest achievement. According to Aristotle, an epic should have following characteristics.

Ø  Fable

Ø  Probable and marvelous theme

Ø  Characters

Ø  Machinery

Ø  Integrity

Ø  Sentiments

Ø  Grand style

Now, we will evaluate Paradise lost on the basis of the above given elements.

1: Fable:

            Fable is the story of the epic which serves as the basis. According to Bossu, the poet’s first priority is to find a moral which will be illustrated in his fable afterwards. In Paradise lost, the theme was chosen by Milton to establish a moral which is ‘to justify the ways of God to men.’  

The second important thing which should be considered by poet is that action should be whole; nothing should be described before, intermixed with it or following it which is not related .In Paradise Lost, this characteristic is present. The action is fixed in hell, performed on earth and punished by heaven.

The third characteristic is greatness. In Paradise Lost, there is much greater brilliance than could have been formed in any other epic.

2: Theme:

According to Aristotle, the theme of an epic should be spectacular and plausible which means it should be grand that it gets the attention of people on national level. Hallam while explaining the theme of the Milton’ Paradise Lost says that it is the finest theme ever chosen for heroic poetry and it is also skillfully managed by Milton.

According to Dr Johnson, the theme or subject of an epic should be so grand that it should for all the people in the world and also for the people of all times. It should not be written for a particular community or for specific time period. And Paradise Lost has this characteristic that its theme is so grand that people of different nations and different time periods read it and relate to it.

3: Characters:

A lot of characters are introduced in an epic. All the characters must be different from each other and they should have some novelty in them. The main characters should have dignity and grandeur to be considered as representative characters of mankind. The characters used in Paradise Lost are sublime but they can be conceived by human beings. The representative characters are God, Christ, two good and evil angels and Adam and Eve. The characters of God and Christ cannot be comprehended by human minds. The good angels are Raphael and Michael. The virtue of Raphael is kind and calm. Michael is noble and high as behoves the dignity of a spirit of a highest rank. The characters of evil angels are more different. Satan is the rebel Archfiend. He rebels against God and preaches hostility against the Almighty. There are two human characters in Paradise Lost which are Adam and Eve. They are represented as innocent and their love is shown as mutual and pure.

4: Machinery:

One of the characteristics of a great epic is that it employs supernatural machinery in order to give the effect of the marvelous. In Paradise Lost, the machinery used is supernatural which makes this epic grand and enhances its worth. All the actions and events in this epic are controlled by the heaven. No action or event is accomplished by any other means. The history of supernatural events which includes creation and redemption; it shows the presence of a supreme being which controls all the events taking place and everything is according to his will. No one can do anything on his own. So, Milton has beautifully used this characteristic in his epic ‘Paradise Lost’.

 5: Integrity of Design:

This is one of the most important characteristics of an epic. The integrity of design means that all the parts of an epic should be written in such a manner that there should be a certain connection between different parts and it should be well interwoven. There should be certain order in which the different parts are composed. The faulty design can hinder or retard the main action. That is why the poet should be very careful about this characteristic.

If we talk about Paradise Lost, some critics say that it begins from the middle of the action not from the beginning. But this is not a defect, rather is according to the principles of classical epics. Horace advises that an epic can start from the middle of the action as it provides the opportunity of retrospection to the poet. So, we can say that Milton has been very careful while writing his epic. Probably, this is the reason for the success of Paradise Lost.

6: Sentiments:

Sentiments play a very important role in an epic. As we know that there are only two human characters in Paradise Lost so it is very difficult for a poet to show different sentiments but Milton has tried his best to show different sentiments even in a limited scope. There are two human characters Adam and Eve. The sentiments of fear, terror, love and repentance has been shown by them. But the real achievement of Milton is that he talks about supernatural beings and also ascribes to them human sentiments. This technique is remarkable and Dr Johnson appreciated Milton for this.

7: Diction and Style:

The thought and style of an epic should be grand. The grandeur of  an epic is represented by the style and the diction. The diction used for writing an epic should be different from normal language in order to give the effect of grandeur. The metaphors, similes and idioms should be used; the length of sentences should be more than normal sentences. The words should be different than which are used in normal speech.

In Paradise Lost, Milton has beautifully maintained the balance between thought and style. The language he has used serves the purpose of grandeur. He has used bold metaphors, idioms and similes in his epic. He has used new and foreign words which no other poet has used. He was very careful about the length of   sentences. In short, he has used all the methods and techniques which are required to write a great epic.

All the elements of an epic described by Aristotle are present in Milton’s Paradise Lost. We  can say that Paradise lost is a great epic.