The+war+on+God+vs+Civil+War

=__Milton's political style in Paradise Lost vs political style in the Civil War__ =

//Milton's thoughts always appear highly integrated, and his political views cannot easily be separated from his poetry. An understanding of the politics and conflicts of Paradise Lost must therefore be tightly tied in with an awareness of Milton's political life during the Civil War. //


 * __A brief history__ **

The mid 17th century was a time of massive social and cultural turmoil. Needless to say there were many factors causing the strong divide between the Crown and Parliament, such as the the Crown playing a much greater role in the running of the country, with Charles I believing in the 'divine right of kings' and ruling autonomously, but many members of Parliament believed that the king had a clear obligation to the people to rule without tyranny, including Milton himself.  This support seemed extremely reactionary to his views of the monarch at that time, and the injustice of their 'divine right' to rule, and their unaccountability to anyone but God; 'It follows that to say kings are accountable to none but God, is the overturning of all law and government [...] for if the king fear not God, we hold then our lives and estates by the tenure of his mere grace and mercy' (CPW, III.204)

 Politics in Paradise Lost
In attempting to compare and understand //Paradise Lost// in its political context we face a particular choice, which rests upon the kind of context which we have in mind. Its easier to read //Paradise Lost// as a political allegory; to say that events and characters can be closely aligned with aspects of the Civil War politics.

Satan's speeches provide the strongest example of a distinctively political voice appearing in the poem. When he addresses the fallen angels Milton draws on rhetorical techniques which are well-established in his political prose.

For that celestial light?' (I.242-5)
Here Satan uses a series of questions with progressively more contracted syntax in order to assert his point. His rhetorical sophistication also allows him to weave subtle flaws into Satan's arguments, expressing his corrupted nature at a particularly detailed level. When later on Satan persuades Eve to eat the fruit, Milton strikes a brilliant balance between making Satan convincing and making sure that his arguments are misleading. e.g:

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px;">Yet lords declared of all in earth or air?' (IX.656)
<span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">He deliberately misunderstands Eve in order to make God's restriction appear more authoritarian and perverse. But more than this, he implies that there is a contradiction between Adam and Eve having been created as lords over the world and their being restricted. The implication is gentle, and //**avoids direct criticism of God**//, instead putting pressure on Eve to justify God's prohibition. This demonstrates Satan's ability to modulate between different kinds of rhetorical questioning, much as Milton's prose works combine both intense interrogation, and the faux-naive attitude which Satan adopts. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">These stylistic similarities arise at least in part because the characters in //<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Paradise Lost //<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> find themselves in situations which genuinely are political. Satan's attempts to rouse the fallen angels in Book I really are reminiscent of Milton's desire to rally support for the Cromwellian government. <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;">However the danger of such readings is that they quickly lose their specificity. The figure of Satan especially accommodates a wide variety of different allegorical interpretations. <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">He can be seen as a false leader to the fallen angels, his enforcement of his own will on the great debate in Book II recalling Charles I's willful disregard for parliament. But alternatively, he can be seen to represent something of Milton and Cromwell in their revolutionary struggles against the king.

<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">** Closing thoughts **

 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I therefore feel strongly that Milton's views on the politics of that era, and his unique style whilst writing about them, are inextricably linked and parallel to the conflicts and politics demonstrated and discussed in //Paradise Lost.// **