Paradise Lost

I am at the part where Satan is gathering his forces to rise up again. Milton keeps referring to the size of Satan's army by giving examples of forces that are smaller. One would assume that Satan's army would contain many demons, but Milton goes on for over a page about how large the army is. I think that this is a little much, even with Paradise Lost being an epic, this is too much description of the army's size. On the other hand, Milton could have done this because it is an epic and we wanted to make sure that everyone would know how large the army was.

Milton also seems to make Satan the protagonist. He presents Satan as the "little guy" that you root for. You know that God will always win, so it is not as much fun to root for a sure thing. We have talked about this in class and it seems that Milton does this to make you think. Satan is more relatable to us because he has human-like qualities. God is not easily relatable because he is God; he is perfect, all-knowing, and all-powerful. Becuase Satan is more relatable you find yourself cheering him on. There does not seem to be anything wrong with this, and then Satan shows his true colors. It catches you off guard because he seemed like a down-on-his-luck person just trying to make it, but he is really plotting his revenge against God. Satan also is plotting about how he and his demons will only do evil and never try to do good. The way Satan tricks you at first into rooting for him is akin to sin. Sin at first seems like a good idea, it draws you in just as Satan draws you in. Then it reveals itself as the evil things you never actually wanted to do. Satan loves sin, so it is normal that the two reflect each other.

In the first book Satan also bulids Pandemonium. This is a temple-like building honoring Satan. I find this almost ironic becuase when I think of temples it reminds me of worshiping God. It seems to me that Satan wants to be like God, so he is copying him. Since copying is considered the greatest form of flattery, I guess that it is good that Satan is copying God. It shows that Satan knows that God is the greatest and that we as humans should be aware of this as well. This might have been what Milton wanted us to learn, that even Satan wanted to be like God, meaning that God is the greatest thing ever.

Faustus and Paradise Lost

We have finished reading Dr. Faustus and now are starting Paradise Lost. For the last scene in Faustus we read both the A and B texts. The A text is the more scholarly one now, since most believe it is the one that Marlowe actually wrote. Although the A text is more scholarly, the B text is more exciting. The B text has demons destroying Faustus and leaves no doubt of what happens to him. The A text leaves a little room for you to hope that at the last second he repented and did not actually go to Hell. The B text would make for a better play, yet the A text is better if you want Faustus to have any hope of repenting.

Paradise Lost opens with the fall of man in the garden on Eden. I think it is interesting that Faustus basically did the same things that Adam and Eve did. All of them wanted the power and knowledge that God possesses and went after that wish, even though they had all been warned not to. They all went about trying to get the power and knowledge in the wrong way and had to pay the price for their actions. I also think it is interesting that Faustus did not learn for the story of Adam and Eve. He obviously knew the Bible, yet he did not take heed of the stories that he knew so well. If obtaining the power and knowledge of God did not work for Adam and Eve, who probably had one of the closest relationships with God that humans could have, why did Faustus think it would work for him? It only goes to show that Fausts was arrogant and did not listen to sound advice becuase he thought he knew what was best. I guess it also implies that we should learn from others past mistakes and not be so foolish to think that we are better than they were and therefore will be able to succeed where others have failed; at least in the since of trying to obtain powers that no human should have.

Dr. Faustus

I have just finished reading Dr. Faustus by Marlowe. In the middle of the play it seems like Faustus enjoys showing off the power he has becuase of selling his soul. He doesn't hesitate to "bring back" Alexander the Great and his wife for the amusement of the king and to prove that his powers are real. Even though he doesn't mind showing off, he tells the king that he might not be able to bring them back and that his power is not as great as the king thinks. It seems that Faustus has learned some humility during the twenty-four years he has had his power. At the beginning of the play he craved "profit and delight.. power..honor..[and] ontipotence". He recieved all those things when he sold his soul, and now it seems that he is almost trying to down-play his powers.

At the end of the play Faustus is terrified of the devil coming to claim his part of the bargain. Faustus askes his friends to pray for his soul and they tell him to repent and be saved. Faustus cannot believe that God would save him after all he has done, so he doesn't really try and repent. It seems that Faustus never really believed in God, and he still doesn't becuase he never tries to ask for forgiveness. He does pray that he was a "beast" beacuse animals have no soul. He also prays that he could be killed before the devil comes to get his soul because he doesn't want to have to face the devil. The last part of the play is a warning to others who are not content with the power that normal humans can achieve on earth. If Marlowe did right that part of the play it would seem like he did believe in God, because he is trying to warn others not to do as Faustus has done. People should use this play as a warning and follow God and not make pacts with things they cannnot understand. At the end Marlowe tells of a God who would have forgiven Faustus if he had sincerely repented, which is out-of-line with Marlowe's supposed atheism. If he really did write it, then maybe he wasn't and atheist or maybe he just wanted us to think about the consiquences of our actions.