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A review by pinxsol
Paradise Lost by John Milton
3.0
3.5* (the last .5 is for Satan, not for you, Adam and Eve!)
To preface, I'm not a good classics reader at all.
Honestly, some parts of the poem are very much dated, so I'm glad I went into this with an open mind, but even then, reading some of Adam and Eve's parts made me visibly cringe. They're very misogynistic (I mean, duh, the poem was written in 17th century), made me feel genuinely sad about, just, women in those times.
(Also, the way Adam is so hyperfocused on sex is so weird like just why)
Satan's parts though, I'd say they aged like fine wine. He's a very controversial character, but not because of the obvious, nah - it's because he was right. Now, I'm not saying his ideas came from a good place (obviously not, it's Satan!) but like...
"Paradise Lost" is just a great perspective on Satan: in essence he's still an angel, though fallen, and it's in his very nature to yearn for the light, for the good of the world, basically for all he has lost. He just wanted to have a choice in a world where choice was an illusion.
To reiterate, his motives are far from innocent, but his ideas are very sound. To modernize it, I'd say he rebels against hereditary monarchy after he learns that he'd be forced to kneel to a guy who'd just been born the day before. Lucifer's emotions are also described as very human and very relatable. (And what's up with non-fallen angels always mocking him? are those lines only there to make us root for Satan even more??)
Last small tidbit: I absolutely loved how easily hell could be translated into mental illness. On the one hand, it's a very real place that Satan's (spoilers!) exiled to; on the other hand, it's described as very much innate, as something inside of him that he longs to escape, and that no amount of running would ever get him to leave behind.
To preface, I'm not a good classics reader at all.
Honestly, some parts of the poem are very much dated, so I'm glad I went into this with an open mind, but even then, reading some of Adam and Eve's parts made me visibly cringe. They're very misogynistic (I mean, duh, the poem was written in 17th century), made me feel genuinely sad about, just, women in those times.
(Also, the way Adam is so hyperfocused on sex is so weird like just why)
Satan's parts though, I'd say they aged like fine wine. He's a very controversial character, but not because of the obvious, nah - it's because he was right. Now, I'm not saying his ideas came from a good place (obviously not, it's Satan!) but like...
"Paradise Lost" is just a great perspective on Satan: in essence he's still an angel, though fallen, and it's in his very nature to yearn for the light, for the good of the world, basically for all he has lost. He just wanted to have a choice in a world where choice was an illusion.
To reiterate, his motives are far from innocent, but his ideas are very sound. To modernize it, I'd say he rebels against hereditary monarchy after he learns that he'd be forced to kneel to a guy who'd just been born the day before. Lucifer's emotions are also described as very human and very relatable. (And what's up with non-fallen angels always mocking him? are those lines only there to make us root for Satan even more??)
Last small tidbit: I absolutely loved how easily hell could be translated into mental illness. On the one hand, it's a very real place that Satan's (spoilers!) exiled to; on the other hand, it's described as very much innate, as something inside of him that he longs to escape, and that no amount of running would ever get him to leave behind.