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 which is based on the concept of "knowledge" or "the fruit of knowledge". However, the concept is very much manipulated with the ideas of heaven and hell, punishment and reward, transformation, and religiosity and politics throughout the epic.

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

It was Satan who already disobeyed God and went against his ways which led him and his followers to hell. And, because 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. Human and all other creations were restricted within a limit of knowledge and in no way that restriction could be surpassed. Now, all the ideas of heaven and hell, punishment and reward, transformation, religiosity and politics are fluxed 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 in order 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 in order to get 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 what human didn't. The process of transformation thus only available to men through repentance, by following the right path of religion, the knowledge of salvation. God has given the human the ultimate knowledge, the knowledge of wisdom what they will follow through their lives in order 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.

The religious belief and politics also being manipulated by this concept of knowledge. Through the epic, Milton has presented human kind as the followers of God or the followers of Christianity. On the other hand, hell or Satan's ways is presented as 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 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 very much religious epic with establishing the belief of Christianity. "The concept of knowledge" or "the ways of Christianity" or "the ways of God" is the manipulator to the ideas of heaven and hell, punishment and reward, transformation, and religiosity and politics.