English Language and Literature, JU

How is the concept of knowledge manipulated in John Milton's Paradise Lost? (connect ideas like heaven and hell, punishment and reward, transformation, religiosity, and politics.)

John Milton's Paradise Lost is an epic that is based on the concept of "knowledge" or "the fruit of knowledge." However, the concept is heavily manipulated through the ideas of heaven and hell, punishment and reward, transformation, and the interplay between religiosity and politics throughout the epic.

Just like other epics, Milton also started his epic in the middle section, bringing humans' disobedience by taking the fruit of knowledge. Though Eve was deceived by Satan in the form of a serpent, yet it was fault of her fault to eat the fruit of knowledge, going against God's forbiddance. Later, Adam also took the fruit, as he did not want to lose Eve, which was another fault of mankind.

It was Satan who had already disobeyed God and gone against his ways, which led him and his followers to hell. And, because of his deception and human's fault, God had to create a new world, "earth". So, the concept of knowledge and the knowledge of God's ways cannot be questioned. Humans and all other creations were restricted within a limit of knowledge, and in no way could that restriction be surpassed. Now, all the ideas of heaven and hell, punishment and reward, transformation, religiosity, and politics are infused with this concept of knowledge.

If we want to highlight punishment and reward, the idea of transformation, and heaven and hell will automatically come. Punishment and reward are the ultimate results of being transformed to gain hell or heaven. The ways of God and the ways of Satan are open wide. Human kind needs to follow God's ways or God's ways of knowledge to transform themselves to the path of religiosity, salvation, to get the reward of regaining heaven.

Heaven used to be a place for all creations, including mankind and Satan, but they lost it because of their faults. However, Satan arrogantly put himself in a war against God, which humans didn't. The process of transformation is thus only available to men through repentance, by following the right path of religion, the knowledge of salvation. God has given humans the ultimate knowledge, the knowledge of wisdom, which they will follow throughout their lives to repent themselves from their faults. The process of transformation will thus take place, which is nothing but the manipulation of the concept of knowledge.

Religious belief and politics are also being manipulated by this concept of knowledge. Through the epic, Milton has presented humankind as the followers of God or the followers of Christianity. On the other hand, hell or Satan's ways are presented as a pagan belief. In this way, Milton showed that the followers of Christianity will go through the path of salvation and regain Heaven. This means, likewise, Satan, those pagan believers will also go to the life of damnation or hell. So, it suggests that Milton presented the concept of knowledge politically to establish Christian belief, which is another manipulation of the concept of knowledge.   

So, it is evident that the concept of knowledge is the core of Paradise Lost, which upholds all the ideas I have mentioned previously. Though Paradise Lost is an epic poem, it is a very religious epic with establishes the belief of Christianity. "The concept of knowledge" or "the ways of Christianity" or "the ways of God" is the manipulator of the ideas of heaven and hell, punishment and reward, transformation, and religiosity and politics.