Browsing by Author "Vardal, Meltem"
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
- Results Per Page
- Sort Options
Master Thesis Paradise lost: The story of the chaotic interaction among god, satan and man(2012) Vardal, MeltemIn Paradise Lost, John Milton succeeds in creating semi-religious and semi-scientific viewpoints about the Biblical fall of man. With his own contribution to the interpretation of the fall, he depicts the paradoxical nature of the universe where the two powers --God and Satan-- collide, making man torn between the two. Through personifying God and Satan, and through concertizing their abstract realms –Heaven and Hell-- Milton reinterprets the “sacred” phenomena in a concrete way. With an unusual beginning to the work where he depicts Satan as a “hero,” revealing also the tragic and the non tragic sides of the arch enemy of God: Milton shows him as constituting one side of the opposites --good and evil-- and serving God’s motives. Torn between God and Satan, man’s position seems forlorn, at first. Yet, Milton interprets this “unfortunate” state as fortunate, rather than depicting the fall as the victory of Satan’s intrigues. Thus, what Milton is after is to stress that “original sin,” despite its painful results, is a chance for man to unite with God. Hence, Milton claims that God’s logic in creating a paradoxical power structure has worked for the good of man. Making Satan His own antagonist, and letting him tempt man, God has caused man’s fall, thereby increasing his wisdom and intellect, making him more than what he was. Finally, from Milton’s viewpoint, man will be transformed into a being deserving both Heaven and a status next to God.