Paradise Lost Critical Quotations

Blake

'of the Devil's party without knowing it'

1 of 49

Shelley (1)

'the energy and magnificence of the character of Satan'

2 of 49

Shelley (2)

'Milton's Devil as a moral being is far superior to his God'

3 of 49

Shelley (3)

Satan as 'one who perseveres in some purpose which he has conceived to be excellent in spite of adversity and torture'

4 of 49

Shelley (4)

'inflicts the most horrible revenge upon his enemy'

5 of 49

Empsom (1)

'it makes God bad'

6 of 49

Empsom (2)

'moral confusions'

7 of 49

Empsom (3)

'the reason why it is so good is that it makes God so bad'

8 of 49

Fish

'disobedience of God is a positive act that rescues mankind from an unvarying routine of mindless genuflection and makes possible the glorious and distinctively human search for self-knowledge and knowledge of the Truth

9 of 49

Waldock

'fortitude in adversity, enormous endurance, a certain splendid recklessness, remarkable powers of rising to the occasion, extraordinary qualities of leadership... and striking intelligence'

10 of 49

Hazlitt (1)

'Satan is the most heroic subject that was ever chosen for a poem'

11 of 49

Hazlitt (2)

'his fortitude was as great as his sufferings'

12 of 49

Hazlitt (3)

'the loss of infinite happiness to himself is compensated in thought, by the power of inflicting infinite misery on others'

13 of 49

Hazlitt (4)

'his love of power and contempt for suffering are never once relaxed from the highest pitch of intensity'

14 of 49

Hazlitt (5)

'wherever the figure of Satan is introduced, whether he walks or flies... it is illustrated with the most striking and appropriate images: so that we see it always before us, gigantic, irregular, portentous, uneasy, and disturbed'

15 of 49

Hazlitt (6)

'dazzling in its faded splendour, the clouded ruins of a God'

16 of 49

Douglas Bush (1)

'it has been conventional to regard Satan as the real hero of Paradise Lost'

17 of 49

Douglas Bush (2)

'too great and attractive for their functional role as villains'

18 of 49

Douglas Bush (3)

'a rebel always finds a ready and admiring audience'

19 of 49

Douglas Bush (4)

God is 'a tyrant against whom it was glorious to rebel'

20 of 49

Jessica Martin (1)

'In the relationship between Adam and Eve, Adam is going to behave more like God, and Eve is going to behave more like humanity'

21 of 49

Jessica Martin (2)

Eve 'yearns to possess the knowledge her husband has'

22 of 49

Jessica Martin (3)

'Adam, secure in his mental capacity, has different potential weaknesses: he sees in Eve a sensual beauty'

23 of 49

Burnett (1)

'beloved Satan'

24 of 49

Burnett (2)

'Satan, as grandiose and interesting as he is, remains most importantly exactly what Lewis claims he is - a liar'

25 of 49

Burnett (3)

'undeniably attractive'

26 of 49

Burnett (4)

'our affiliation with Satan'

27 of 49

Burnett (5)

'Satan chooses himself... as his proper object of veneration'

28 of 49

Burnett (6)

'Satan's self-idolizing gaze is inherently traumatic'

29 of 49

Burnett (7)

'Satan's blindness...narcissism...his paternal ties with God'

30 of 49

Burnett (8)

'the narcissistic Eve'

31 of 49

Collier (1)

'his portrayal of women vividly reflects the sexist attitudes of his time'

32 of 49

Collier (2)

'his idea of women as strong, independent and capable of autonomy is also apparent'

33 of 49

Collier (3)

'Eve is portrayed as very intuitive'

34 of 49

Collier (4)

Before eating the fruit Eve 'is a supreme example of purity and obedience'

35 of 49

Collier (5)

'Eve can only know herself through Adam'

36 of 49

Walker

Eve is presented 'to the reader only in relation to Adam'

37 of 49

Collier (6)

'any hint of nobility in Adam's character is erased in the temper tantrum he throws back in the presence of Eve and of God'

38 of 49

Collier (7)

Adam loses the mental capacity to resist Eve and anything she says'

39 of 49

Whitfield (1)

'hers is an existence defined by men'

40 of 49

Whitfield (2)

'hers is a definition of self that comes from a male, an understanding of self framed in an by masculinity'

41 of 49

Whitfield (3)

'specifically from the left-hand side of a man - a side notorious for evil'

42 of 49

Whitfield (4)

'She was created from Adam and for Adam. Her's is a man's world, a world fashioned for men by a father-figure type God'

43 of 49

Whitfield (5)

'she recognizes her secondary status, her inferiority to Adam... she is relegated to a role of inferiority in the male hierarchy'

44 of 49

Whitfield (6)

'Eve represents a kind of simplistic, dangerously delectable creature, whose very delectability is dangerous to Paradise'

45 of 49

Whitfield (7)

Adam's 'dialogue... is riddle with misogynistic remarks'

46 of 49

Whitfield (8)

'Eve was created to be Adam's helper, his unequal companion'

47 of 49

Whitfield (9)

'She appears to have been set up, inclined to want more, to be equal to her male partner... wanted to venture higher than her lot'

48 of 49

Whitfield (10)

'Milton's attempts to taint her language'

49 of 49

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Paradise Lost Critical Quotations

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