ELSA
MEET
Sunday 26th January 2020
Goverdhan Hotel, Agra
Topic: Justifying ‘Eternal Providence and Ways of God to Men’- Paradise Lost Book I
Invocation
OF Mans First Disobedience, and the Fruit
Of that Forbidden Tree, whose mortal tast
Brought Death into the World, and all our woe,
With loss of Eden, till one greater Man
Restore us, and regain the blissful Seat,
Sing Heav'nly Muse, that on the secret top
Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire
That Shepherd, who first taught the chosen Seed,
In the Beginning how the Heav'ns and Earth
Rose out of Chaos: or if Sion Hill
Delight thee more, and Siloa's brook that flow'd
Fast by the Oracle of God; I thence
Invoke thy aid to my adventrous Song,
That with no middle flight intends to soar
Above th' Aonian Mount, while it pursues
Things unattempted yet in Prose or Rhime.
And chiefly Thou, O Spirit, that dost prefer
Before all Temples th' upright heart and pure,
Instruct me, for Thou know'st; Thou from the first
Wast present, and with mighty wings outspread
Dove-like satst brooding on the vast Abyss
And mad'st it pregnant: What in me is dark
Illumin, what is low raise and support;
That to the highth of this great Argument
I may assert Eternal Providence,
And justifie the wayes of God to men.
- Paradise Lost: Book 1 (1674 version) by John Milton
In the hope of uniting the readers with
those books that cannot be put down, Paradise Lost by John Milton being
one of those, was taken up for discussion in ELSA Meet held on 26th January 2020. The Meet, originally scheduled
to coincide with John Milton’s 411th birthday (December 9), was postponed
due to some unavoidable circumstances and was held on the 71st
anniversary of the Indian Republic on 26th January 2020. The theme of the meet
being ‘Justifying Eternal Providence and Ways of God to Men’ (Paradise Lost
Book I), ELSA provided a great platform to literary enthusiasts and members of
ELSA for a dialogue and intellectual exchange of views on this great work of
excellence by Milton. The Meet began with multiple queries raised by members –
Mr. Saurabh Agarwal, Dr. Rajan Lal, Dr. Roopali Khanna, Dr. Santosh Singh, Ms.
Anjali Singh, Dr. Shri Kant Kulsrestha, Mr. Shravan Kumar, Mr. Raja Pandey and
others -- pertaining to the various dimensions of Paradise Lost, the
prominent among which were: 1. Why it appears that Milton glorified Satan when
his avowed purpose was to justify the “ways of God to men?, 2. Why Satan seems
to resonate with the humanity of the common man? 3. Why is and God projected as
a tyrant? 4. Why does the conflict between good and evil generally seems to go
the evil’s side? 5. If God was omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent, why did
He not prevent Satan from tempting Eve? 6. Why Satan beguiled Eve and not Adam
for initiating the downfall of man?
Citing significant lines from Milton’s
Invocation to God (Lines 1-26), Prof. Nibir Ghosh initiated the discussion by
introducing the theme of the poem and highlighting Milton’s poetic excellence
as displayed in Paradise Lost Book 1. Important observations were made on a great
deal of information as contained in the Invocation. Of many possible critical
approaches Prof. Ghosh also provided a number of insights by examining the poem
from the vantage point of the various Renaissance traditions concerning the time
and history of its composition and the activist role of John Milton in the
Civil War headed by Oliver Cromwell. The discussion continued on various points
which included profound implications of the poem for the way we view evil, and
for the way that we all view power and those who have it, for the way that men
treat women. Other important highlights of the meet included Satan’s role as a
“democratic” leader and the Pandaemonium as a grotesque imitation of the most
magnificent churches where rituals overshadowed the considerations of “the
upright and pure heart.” The members marked Milton’s birthday by rejoicing not
only the poetic genius of Milton but also celebrating the loftiness of his
ideals which will never go obsolete in any age.
The meet concluded with the reading of
Milton’s poem “On His Blindness.” The online presence of Dr. Manju and Dr.
Tanya Mander was lauded by all.
Manju
Religion plays a very important role in the life of an individual. This
importance evidently comes to the forefront in T. S. Eliot’s: “Three Senses of
Culture” where he asserts that culture "is the incarnation (so to speak)
of the religion of a people" and it contains the necessary codes of
conduct that determine virtuous existence of a human being. The justification
of Godly ways which were articulated in John Milton’s Paradise Lost are much required in the present scenario when life
has become more a heap of anxieties. We bother so much for future that we
forget to enjoy what we are blessed with. The modern materialistic world is known for its spirit questioning
religious practices and even the existence of God and it replaces the sense of
fraternity with the strange self leading to isolation which results into
various mental disorders. John Milton justifies the ways of God in Paradise Lost and suggests that God can
never be wrong to his children as the treatment his own children, Adam and Eve; got from him in the epic Paradise Lost, was a boon in the
disguise of bane as he wanted them to learn the importance of being virtuous.
It is said that the excess of everything is bad. Total inactivity and just waiting
for the Godly gifts will make the human life impoverished but at the same time
wanting a lot from life will also transform it into a constant struggle devoid
of mental peace and contentment. We need a balanced life. The theory of Karma,
one of the important components of Hindu religion, is something which can be
taken as a solution of this riddle. Here God determines the kind of life one
will have but in the light of one’s deeds and it will inspire everyone to be
virtuous and ethical and to accept whatever is decided by God. This may be the cause
why intellectuals like T. S. Eliot, find the door to escape from the modern
chaotic life in Indian religions and uses those three elaborative words “DA (Datta), DA (Dayadhvam), DA (Damyata) in
his renowned poem “The Wasteland”.
Dr. Manju is
Associate Professor of English at Chandigarh University.
Radicalism of Milton in Paradise Lost
Saurabh Agarwal
The very form of poetry that
John Milton chose to write in the Epic Paradise Lost is the pronouncement
that renaissance poet is out to demolish the set norms of the literary world
and of the society he was part of. He chooses blank verse over rhyme by calling
it “being no necessary adjunct or true ornament of poem or good verse, in
longer works especially, but the invention of a barbarous age.” Thus, he
liberated poetry “from the troublesome and modern bondage of rhyming.”
Paradise Lost is, among other things, a poem about a civil war. Milton has lend
his own voice and views to Satan and to his followers, who, portrayed as more
of a republican, lead “impious war” against the “tyranny of Heav’n” or
“Heav’n’s awful Monarch”.
Theories
of Satan as the hero of Paradise
Lost stem, among many other critics, from Blake’s statement that
Milton was ‘of the Devil’s party without knowing it’. Shelley too wrote in A Defence of Poetry that
‘nothing can exceed the energy and magnificence of the character of Satan as
expressed in Paradise Lost’. He also held that “Milton’s devil as a moral being is… far
superior to his Good.”
Milton’s own revolt echoes in
Satan’s battle against God who “put to proof his supremacy,/ whether upheld by
strength or Chance or Fate”. Milton being an antimonarchist has, in his poetry,
presumed the task to ”justify the ways of God to men” but could not refrain
from assigning his own political voice to Satan and company. Through Abdiel,
Milton has put to question the theory of ascendancy of Son to throne of God
when he says
‘Unjust, thou sayest,
Flatly unjust, to bind with laws the free,
And equal over equals to let reign,
One over all with unsucceeded power.’ (V, 818-821)
Flatly unjust, to bind with laws the free,
And equal over equals to let reign,
One over all with unsucceeded power.’ (V, 818-821)
Further he says,
But, to grant it thee unjust
That equal over equals monarch reign—
Thyself, though great and glorious, dost thou count,
Or all angelic nature joined in one,
Equal to him, begotten Son? (V, 831-835)
That equal over equals monarch reign—
Thyself, though great and glorious, dost thou count,
Or all angelic nature joined in one,
Equal to him, begotten Son? (V, 831-835)
This is the tone of political
dissent where denial of power triggers revolt against the authority when
perceived merit of one’s own is overlooked in preference to lineage. The
hierarchy in heaven has been upset by sudden elevation of the Son. To a modern
reader who takes a non-religious view of the epic, choosing to distance himself
from the theodicy of Milton, where Adam and Eve’s suffering is cause of their
free will rather than consequence of Divine Providence, Satan is a rebel with a
cause.
Saurabh Agarwal is a flourishing entrepreneur and literary enthusiast based in Agra.
Why Satan Beguiled
Eve and not Adam for Initiating the Downfall of Man: A Sinful Reflection On
Milton’s Eve
Roopali Khanna
"She Gave Me Of The Tree, And I Did Eat."
The ninth book
of Paradise Lost presents the pivotal moment when Milton’s
narrative metamorphoses from its initial plan to discuss ‘Man’s First
Disobedience’, to an analysis of woman’s first disobedience. This
is one of the saddest lines of poetry in Paradise
Lost by John Milton in Christian literature. The utter finality of the
statement, forceful to the point of brutality with all the implications it has
when spoken by Adam, symbol of all mankind: the deed of disobedience, bringing
death, disaster, and dreadful woe, is done and the blame rests on Eve.
From St Augustine
to Emilia Lanier, writers
throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance had
meditated on Eve’s role in ‘Man’s First Disobedience’. But it was Milton who,
even while emphasising her special culpability, gave her character special
depth, including paradoxical power and exceptional poignancy.
From the start,
however, the poet emphasises the hierarchical distinction between the
primordial pair Adam and Eve. The first woman,
Eve is created out of Adam's rib. She is slightly inferior to him and must
“submit” to his will. The belief exhibited here is that the male is
superior to the female and therefore the female should be subservient. It can
be seen as a reflection of the 17th century male-dominant society in
which Milton lived and his puritan beliefs .The 17th century Puritan society believed that men played a
patriarchal role upon women, and that this role was instituted by God and
nature which influenced his creation of an epic that favours the superiority
of men over women. God did not create Eve to “guide” or be a “superior” in
humankind because God’s sole intention in creating Eve was to have her serve
Adam: “He for God only, she for God in him” (IV. 299).
This very first
image of Eve that Milton portrays shows Eve to be a submissive woman who is not
as strong, spiritual, or as intelligent as her husband, which is distinctly
sexist. Acknowledging
that Adam is both her ‘Author’ and ‘Disposer’ (Book 4, l . 633), she proclaims that
“God is thy Law, thou mine: to know
no more/
Is woman’s happiest knowledge and
her praise” (Book 4, ll. 635–36).
This is conveying
the lesson that women should not be too curious about the world around them. Eve’s
depiction as an innocent and subservient woman in Paradise who obeys Adam
because “So God ordains” represents Milton’s ideal for a woman’s place in a
marriage. In
another incident Raphael tries to enlighten Adam when he says that Eve
is
“Adorned
She was indeed,
and lovely, to attract
Thy love, not thy
subjection;” (10.151-153).
This is one of the
most important quotations in the entire poem because it conveys Milton’s view
that loving a woman is acceptable but subjection to her charm might compromise
the hierarchy of gender roles. It was a prevailing subject during this time --
the position of woman, or more accurately, women’s lack of position. Though, Milton’s
misogynistic view of women is presented mildly in the beginning by showing Adam’s superiority and strength by dwelling on
the weakness of Eve, but these small implications are significant
because they serve as a preface for Eve’s vulnerability to Satan’s temptation. All of Eve’s negative attributes are not
significant in and of themselves, but are more noteworthy when viewed in the
context of Eve succumbing to Satan’s guile. Here is where Milton’s historically
sexist depiction of Eve starts to become more misogynistic in nature because John
Milton feeds of the sexism in the Bible and creates a universe that goes beyond
this, where a woman who has the courage to be independent ends up causing the
Fall for all of mankind for eternity. Feminist critical methods have exposed Eve’s
triple objectification at the hands of God, Adam and Satan, as an influence of
an environment of widespread and entrenched sexual inequality during that time.
Though, I believe,
interpretations exist on the other end of the spectrum as well. If Satan had
first tried to make Adam succumb to his temptation, Adam may have also given in
just as easily. He gave into Eve’s temptation because he did not want her to
suffer alone and this comes across as a sweet and thoughtful action, which is
the opposite of how Eve gives in to Satan even though he is equally as guilty.
Misogyny is clear here because Milton has a hatred for Eve and is directly
implying that women being allowed to have independence results in vicious,
malevolent actions and schemes on their behalf, even though this is not a fair
depiction of what happened between Satan and Eve in Eden. In addition, Jesus
tells Adam that it was he who was given the power to rule and not Eve,
highlighting that the Fall can be equally blamed on Adam since his overwhelming
love for Eve is as detrimental as vanity and curiosity from a woman. Therefore,
it is quite evident that Adam and Eve are both equally guilty for the Fall
because they succumb to temptation independently due to their individual
weaknesses. They were not predetermined to fall according to God; it is clear
that both men and women are capable of falling, that the loss of innocence and
purity in Eden is directly tied to free will rather than predestination.
Dr. Roopali Khanna is on the
Guest Faculty, department of English, Baikunthi Devi Girls P.G. College, Agra.
She runs Kala Sadhana, an Art Gallery.
