Paradise Lost summary

Better to reign in Hell, then serve in Heav'n.

Like any good epic, Paradise Lost begins with an invocation to the Muse. Milton chooses the classical muse Urania, the muse of astronomy, to help him tell the story of man’s disobedience toward God. He also proclaims that he’ll justify God’s ways to man.

Then, the story begins. Fallen angel Satan lies in chains on a lake of fire along with his fellow rebels. They’ve just lost their first big battle against God and plummeted to Hell. But despite their defeat, Satan wants to continue the struggle against God. In a famous line, he asserts that he’d rather reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.

He breaks free from his chains and calls for the other fallen angels, rattling off a long list of names: Moloch, Chemos, Baalem, Ashtaroth, Astarte, Dagon, Rimmon, Osiris, Isis, Orus, Mammon, and Belial. Satan instructs this demon army to construct a capital city for Hell: Pandemonium.

Then, he assembles his demons to talk strategy. How should they proceed with their struggle against God? Moloch suggests open warfare against Heaven. Belial advocates for doing nothing. Mammon argues for making Hell a little nicer, so they can all live a happy life of sin.  Finally, Beelzebub, speaking for Satan, proposes to take revenge on God by corrupting his most beloved creation: mankind. Naturally, Satan’s plan prevails.

He leaves for Earth. At Hell's Gate, he encounters his daughter Sin – half woman, half serpent. She’s surrounded by hellish dogs and accompanied by their incest-spawned son Death. Satan instructs Sin to open the gates of Hell. But once opened, Sin is unable to close them again.

Satan wanders through the limbo between Heaven and Hell, where he meets the allegorical figures Chaos and Night. As he moves toward Earth, Sin and Death follow his path – broadening it into a superhighway for evil to follow.

ANALYSIS

Paradise Lost is an epic poem in the tradition of ancient literary masters like Homer and Virgil and Christian successors like Dante. Milton follows their example by opening his poem with an invocation to a Muse. He calls on Urania as the “heavenly” muse of astronomy, mixing classic and Christian symbolism.

Then he begins his story in medias res, right in the middle of things – another epic tradition. Satan has just fallen from Heaven after rebelling against God and is about to establish his new kingdom of Hell.

Protagonist Satan might be construed as some kind of antihero, but Milton doesn’t want readers to sympathize with the devil. Milton makes it clear that Satan’s power is illusory, since it ultimately derives from God. Satan’s battle is lost before it’s begun. But that won’t keep him from trying.