In Paradise Lost, How Does Milton Justify The Ways of God to Women - Assignment Example

How did Milton Justify the ways of God to Women in Paradise Lost? Introduction: Like all the classic pieces of literature, Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost also encompasses within its scope several issues, related to socio-cultural and socio-political aspects that are relevant in both contemporary and changing trends of social context at various points of time. C.B Bowra, in his definition of epic, has suggested, “An epic poem is … a narrative of some length and deals with events which have certain grandeur and importance and comes from a life of action …. It gives a special pleasure because its events and persons enhance our belief in the worth of human achievement and in the dignity and nobility of man” (Bowra; cited in Hainsworth 1). It becomes clear from such observation that an epic deals with the theme of humanity and changing roles of humankind in different social contexts. John Milton’s Paradise Lost, as it has been widely suggested by scholars, received a great deal of inspiration from the contemporary socio-political context; at the same time, the poet with his deep understanding of humanity, also attempted to lay down different traits of social existence and rights of common people, metaphorically. God, as represented by Milton, is not a divine entity, same as represented in Christian religious discipline; rather He has portrayed very much as a human being, endowed with all human virtues and viciousness. Thus, when it comes to interpreting the actual impression or reflection of Milton about God, strictly within the purview of Paradise Lost, different layers of meaning that also seem problematic for a reader, can be explored (Curran 526). Naturally, such humane representation of God also provides readers with impression that His reactions and treatment of various social issues, including attitude towards gender, would also match with reactions of a person, heading a social institution or playing the role of a leader. Throughout the Paradise Lost God has appeared in different manner to readers and through His treatment of Satan, Adam and Eve, Milton also has attempted to justify His ways towards social evils, men and women, though in a symbolic manner. Eve has been represented by the poet, as a symbol of entire womankind. Just the way Eve’s actions, on one hand represent the themes of women liberty and rights, on the other, how those also are responsible for plight of women in a male dominated social structure have remained subjects of great discussion among scholars. Milton’s presentation of the ways of God to women, actually in a metaphoric way, the treatment of male patriarchy of women, is truly marvelous. The universality of appeal behind such presentation also suggests quite explicitly that no matter how much society changes intellectually or liberally, the biased approach of males against their female counterparts, would remain thematically same, irrespective of the fact that forms of such approach will different in separate time periods. Milton’s God in Paradise Lost: Milton has presented God as an omnipotent, omniscient and eternal entity in Paradise Lost; however, despite His powers he is not immune to vengeance or does not hesitate to condemn any such forces that speak against His authority. However, it is interesting to see that Milton does not present God’s use of power as essentially malicious, though in the Book I, it might seem that God is quite in the position of an antagonist, compared to the status of Satan. Thus, Milton in the beginning of his epic has expressed his intention to “… [assert] eternal Providence,/ And justify the way of God to men” (I, 24-25). Milton, it seems, is quite conscious of the fact that the way God has been presented in the Book I, can provide an impression to readers that he is essentially institutionalized and also remains as a manifestation of institutional dominance. However, with the intention to justify the ways of God to men, Milton actually wishes to suggest that when communal action or general rebellion is not capable of producing the desired changes in social context, it becomes important that certain institutions attempt to bring the desired results; and even on certain occasions, though, it may seem that such actions are actually defying the preconceived or benevolent face of social institutions, however, under such circumstances such tyrannical actions are required so that tyranny of the state can be protested. Joan Malory Webber, in this context has observed, “… even Milton, when he wrote Paradise Lost, had given up present hope for communal action, concluding that minds must change themselves before the world can change. The political poet’s task is … [to] speak through, challenge, and transform the political materials and symbols of his time so ideally to facilitate communal fostering of human possibilities, or to enable the individual person to resist the moribund or tyrannical state” (3-4). The historical documents provide evidence in support of the observation that Paradise Lost was written as a testament of the failure of the revolution and reasons that actually led to such failure. The Paradise or the Eden is actually symbol of the Promised Land that the Revolution assured to its devoted and honest participants. Milton himself was in support of the revolution or the Revolutionary Politics. However, failure of the struggle to ensure a better future to common people, like many others, also discouraged Milton, resulting in his withdrawal from “Revolutionary politics” (Achinstein 115). However, the dream of attaining a state of bliss has not remained entirely ignored by Milton. Thus, the tyrannical figure of God, during the course of Paradise Lost slowly transforms into such a human figure that is capable and powerful enough to condemn all such forces that remain as barriers for a better social existence. Whereas Satan is also another sign of hate, but unlike, God, in Paradise Lost, his capacity to hate is only capable of corrupting and destruction; whereas, God’s hatred and rage are certain instruments that he uses on certain occasions with the purpose of destroying all such forces that antagonizes a better social existence, “Although it may be true that Milton’s God is capable of hate … it is not the kind of hatred (of God, of Adam and Eve, of superiors in a hierarchy, of contradiction in general) that animates Satan” (Curran 527). Satan is always ready “To wage by force or guile eternal war” (I, 121), but he does not actually intend anything positive or constructive. Though Milton has suggested quite clearly that his main aim is to justify the ways of God to humankind, however, he has not kept the will of God beyond the purview of questioning. In this context, his perception or interpretation of God receives a new light of interpretation if we focus on his suggestion in Areopagitica that God “…command[s] us temperance, justice, continence, yet powers out before us ev’n to a profusenes all desirable things” (Milton; cited in Schoenfeldt 365). Under light of such observation, keeping in mind the supposition “that God is all-knowing” (Curran 526), it can be interpreted that God “…surrounds us with plenty not as blessing but rather as a test; he then expects us to figure out the moment when sustenance becomes excess, and partake temperately” (Schoenfeldt 365). Thus, God is not only such a figure that is capable of blessing only but Milton feels that God actually expresses his ways to humankind by creating scopes to which common people are expected to react in the best way possible, in accordance with their respective ways of interpreting those scopes. Considering such interpretation, it can be said that temptation of Eve by the infernal Serpent, Eve’s insistence of Adam to taste the Forbidden Fruit and finally their fall – each of the incidents has occurred according to God’s will, as if He already planned occurrence of those. It actually was His desire to provide scope to both Adam and Eve, especially to Eve, as her temptation occurred prior to Adam’s, how they react to the situation and when the moment comes for them to be banished forever from a state of Bliss to mundane, to which extent they temperately partake. However, God’s desire to judge both Adam and Even finally takes a different form: while Adam is condemned from God’ grace and is compelled to live a life of deprivation; whereas Eve was hold responsible for the plight of entire mankind and due to her gullible nature, the entire womankind of which she is a representative, has also been marked as devil’s associate. Culturally, as women have remained at a situation of oppression and ignorance, the same traits were also viewed in the reaction of God against gendered subjects. The kind of obedience that God wished to be practiced by both Adam and Eve could have remained unfulfilled by Eve at some point of time or the other. Thus, in order to maintain His autonomy over cosmos and also to dominated the evils, which Satan is capable of generating, God, crafts the entire episode so that through Eve both these objects can be achieved at once. This is actually an essential politics of the patriarchal social construction and Milton’s Paradise Lost becomes highly relevant in this context as “He anticipates our whole culture, with all its self-drafting conflicts, and asks us to choose change” (Webber 4). Justifying the Ways of God to Women: While coming to the context of justifying the ways of God to women, likewise it was important to receive a comprehensive understanding about Milton’s idea of God it also becomes important to realize the poet’s conception of women. During the course of creating his literary masterpiece on the backdrop of seventeenth century, when the society around is undergoing a radical social and political transformation, Milton expressed an approach towards women that is far advanced than that of the patriarchal ambiance. Women remained as source of creative aspiration, fertility, spontaneity and an essential impetus to maintain the creative spree. Such respectful attitude towards women have remained one of the major reasons that even after two consecutive failures in marital relationship, Milton has remained sympathetic and understanding towards his third wife, Elizabeth Minshull. Among Milton’s biographers there has been a great deal of controversy regarding the actual reason behind the third marriage, including “affection, desire, practical necessity, perhaps any combination” (Campbell, and Corns 323), however, prior to the marriage a bond of mutual respect was developed between the husband and wife; it is evident from the fact that despite an age difference of almost 30 years also, both of them agreed for the matrimony (Campbell, and Corns 323). Features that according to the norms of patriarchal construction, is considered as disobedience or corruptible nature of women, for Milton, it is actually the spontaneity of women soul. Thus, Eve’s transgression from the established rules of God might be regarded as an outrage, however, the same disobedience “…made her an exemplary figure for the drama of obedience and disobedience in a society in which … obedience was an ideal” (Wiseman 535). Even, if women are interpreted as embodiments of disobedience, however, Milton also has symbolically made it clear that the patriarchal social construction is actually responsible for developing the traits in women’s character. In the Book X. of Paradise Lost, Adam comes to know that Eve was created by God out of his crooked rib, “…but a rib/Crooked by nature, bent, as now appears,/ More to the part sinister from me drawn” (X 884-886). If God is regarded as a manifestation of social patriarchy and His creation of Eve from a crooked rib clearly suggests, though in a metaphoric way that it always has been will of the social construction to create women in such a manner so that they show the traits of disobedience and with that reason they can be oppressed. Thus, during justifying the ways of God to women, Milton actually refers to the ways of society or will patriarchal social construction that wants women to be “Crooked by nature”. The question automatically comes that despite being part of the male dominated social structure, how Milton has observed so deeply in the social politics and its reaction to its women inhabitants. In this context, reflection of a female literary artist, Margaret Fuller can be taken into consideration, as she wrote in 1846 that “Minton was one of the fathers of her own age, a true understander of liberty, justice, marriage, and education …” (Webber 6). After failure of the revolution, as Milton was one of the leading figures among rebels, he naturally encountered a great deal of crisis. During the time of writing Paradise Lost he was under strict surveillance of the social governance because of his previous connection with protestors of restoration. While, under fear of being executed and coming under the attention of Monarchy as rebels of the system, most of Milton’s fellow companions were busy in changing their approach, the poet, though he took refuge from revolutionary politics, was incapable of sacrificing his ideologies entirely (Webber 6). Unlike most of the people, Milton did not support revolution for the sake of strengthening the conventional patriarchal set up; rather his fight in support of a better and equal social existence. Like most of the great artists, and philosophers, Milton also strongly used to believe that unless a proper cohabitation can be introduced between male and female counterparts within the domain of social existence, then it will not be possible to attain a better existence. However, despite the explicit religious references that God does not make any “…distinction and differences between the Male and Female as men do” (Cited in Wiseman 539), however, despite the fact that both Adam and Eve were made by God in his own image Adam remains closer to God, whereas Eve is a bit removed from receiving God’s grace. The Sin that Eve has caused by tempting Adam to taste the Forbidden fruit, in Christian theology and popular interpretation of the role of Eve, however, has widely been criticized. However, when it comes to interpretation of Eve in broader humanist approach, it can be found that she actually has a major role to play in the postlapserian period. In the modern context, Eve does not remain only as an eternal figure capable of tempting only; rather she has attained the state of prophesized redeemer, elevating the entire womankind to a level of higher spiritual status, a position which has been denied to women since early dawn of the human civilization: “The promise that future generations shall bruise the serpent’s head reinforces the case that, although Eve has sinned, the outcome of such sin is to be measured against the promise of redemption” (Wiseman 539). Traits of such feminist observation becomes clearer as Eve is represented by Milton as voice or manifestation women’s struggle with the attempt to individualize their situation during the religious and political situation of 1640-50. Prior to Eve’s projection in Paradise Lost, the epic receives one of the most popular range of interpretations that it is actually a symbolic representation of socio-political turmoil and Milton’s quest to find a positive way for humankind to receive an upper hand over all forms of anarchical or tyrannical evils. The moment Milton starts dealing with Eve and her actions within the arena of such socio-political disturbance, another strong dimension, feminist, of interpretation opens and through such treatment Milton also has provided an impression regarding state of women in changing social perspective of the advancement in human civilization. Sandra Gilbert, in her essay, “Milton’s Bogey: Patriarchal Poetry and Women Readers” has observed quite clearly that Milton’s epic is actually a narrative of women inferiority and her social existence as an alienated being. Paradise Lost, for her, presents such a world, where women are deprived from the touch of being into Heavenly Bliss and the main reason behind such deprivation, as the poet has attempted to show, is close alliance of women with the Devil, guile, Fall and Sin. Thus, from the perspective of Gilbert’s observation Paradise Lost simply remains another example of patriarchal poetry or another instance of patriarchal literature, where women have remained the sole cause of all disasters (Gilbert 58-65); but in reality, with the treatment of Eve and though her including certain traits of basic feminism, Milton actually has attempted to explore the humane aspects of women that remain unacknowledged by patriarchal social construction. At the same time, as God is creator of Eve, thus, when it comes to understanding the ways of God to women, it can be said that according to Milton’s observation, the will of God is to regard women as spontaneous and also such individual beings that are capable of defying rules of patriarchy, while they are existing within a contiguous “tension between obedience and disobedience” (Wiseman 543). This continuous tussle between obedience and disobedience is also one of the major reasons that Milton’s Eve, as justified by the ways of God, is “complicated and multilayered” (Wiseman 544). Presence of such dilemma in Eve’s character, from orthodox religious perspective, has been interpreted as volatility of character and it also regarded as one of the major reasons that have given birth to immorality in her. However, in Milton’s description Eve has always remained as an entity that occupies a quite close place with that of God. In the Book XII readers have been presented with the impression that despite Fall from Heaven, Eve is subjected to God’s instruction and it also is interesting to see that even Adam, who is in a direct image of God, also is not eligible to receive such dreams, “God is also in sleep, and Dreams advise,/Which he hath sent propitious, some great good/Presaging, since with sorrow and heart’s ,distress/Wearied I fell asleep” (XII 611-614). The most relevant question regarding God’s much discussed institutional or patriarchal nature can be raised at this time that if God is really capable of providing the liberty to Eve to enjoy the charm of her dilemmatic nature. Milton’s treatment of this theme really receives a classic and immortal connotation as he has shown that irrespective of all the liberties that God has granted or the kind of special preference to execute His will God has asserted over Eve, but He has restricted her boundaries. Eve has not been provided with the liberty to interpret the directions or prophecies that she receives from God; rather she realizes that her capacity to interpretation has already been limited by God and without the guidance of God she is incapable of taking actions or decide the course of action according to her free will: “…with thee to go,/Is to stay here; without thee to stay,/Is to go hence unwilling; thou to me/Are all things under heaven, all places thou,/Who for my willful crime art banished hence./This further consolation yet secure/I carry hence; though by me all is lost,/Such favor I unworthy am vouchsafed,/By me promised seed shall be restored” (XII 615-623). Thus, it becomes clear from such observation that despite the knowledge of capacity of human interpretation that Eve acquired has also been determined by God and in this manner she just remains an effective instrument for the Supreme Being to execute His will. Conclusion: Milton’s justification of the ways of God to men and women is allegorical, symbolic and eternal at the same time. As it has already been mentioned that God, for Milton is not a Divine Entity; rather he remains a manifestation of both Human positivism and negativity to the highest possible extent. Under purview of such observation, the ways of women have also been determined by God in His own institutionalized manner. The quintessential dilemma of women character and constant struggle between obedience and disobedience are important factors that act as essential factors of mystery in their character. At the same time, it seems that God in His own ways has created or attributed such traits in women so that the issue of gender and on a broader scope, relational completing and supplementing can be fulfilled. There is no denial of the fact that God is patriarchal but such interpretation of the term “patriarchy” in this context, it would be better, if not interpreted from an orthodox social perspective. Just the manner Milton’s God also is capable of hate but such hatred or oppression cannot be associated with that of Satan’s as God uses these traits for the purpose of social benefit, likewise, His patriarchy is not essentially negative; rather it can be interpreted as a mode of governance that he has over all human beings irrespective of their gender differences. It seems that Milton is of opinion that God’s way to women are actually aimed at providing them with required rational that are important for the purpose of attaining a better state of social existence for the entire human civilization, transcending the barriers of time, space, cultural and political diversities. Works Cited Achinstein, Sharon. Literature and dissent in Milton's England. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2003. Campbell, Gordon. and Corns, Thomas N. John Milton: life, work, and thought. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2008. Curran, Stuart. “God”. The Oxford Handbook of Milton. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2010. Gilbert, Sandra M. “Milton’s Bogey: Patriarchal Poetry and Women Readers”. Paradise lost: John Milton. London: Palgrave Macmillan. 1999. Hainsworth, John Bryan. The idea of epic. California: University of California Press. 1991. Milton, John. and Torrey, Henry Warren. Paradise lost: a poem in twelve books. London: Houghton, Mifflin and Co. 1869. Schoenfeldt. Michael. “Obedience and Autonomy in Paradise Lost”. A companion to Milton. New York: Wiley-Blackwell. 2003. Webber, Joan Malory. “The Politics of Poetry: Feminism and Paradise Lost.” Milton Studies 14, Volume 24. Pittsburg: University of Pittsburgh Press. 1984. Wiseman, Susan. “Eve, Paradise Lost, and Female Interpretation”. The Oxford Handbook of Milton. 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