Milton's Presentation Of The Fallen Angels
Write about , showing both how he
attempts to individualise them, and how he uses them to present his view of
the world
The fallen angels are Satan's minions and the voices by which
Milton may express a variety of opinions and views, showing the diversity
and intricacies of Hell, and the immorality of their actions and proposals.
Whilst we are often impressed by the skill with which the individual
leaders perform their tasks and speeches, we are never left in any doubt as
to the truth of G-d, and the futility of their debates. By examining the
angels as a group, Milton is able to leave the infernal dungeon, to take a
flight throughout history, giving his own point of view. It is thus ...
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size and
form. The image of a "pitchy cloud / Of locusts" to describe them as they
rise from the burning lake is especially apt, given the destructive nature
of, and biblical references to these insects. Milton states that they lost
their original names after the Fall ("Got them new names, till wand'ring
o'er the earth") and that they became known to man as the heathen idols of
the Old Testament and the pagan deities of Egypt and Greece. A rich
portrait of mythological and biblical history is painted, through the
equation of the angels with the false gods and characters who featured in
these past times. What is made clear throughout, is the fact that these
civilisations are tainted by their neglect of the true G-d, in favour of
these idols, which leads to their resultant downfall. First, we meet the
icons to which Solomon sinfully built temples, and failed in his duty to
the Lord. Moloch, the sun god, is the embodiment of wrath, demanding
bloodthirsty human sacrifice ...
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in Oreb".
Before continuing this passage through Satan's history, Milton
introduces Belial as a static spirit - not a single deity, but the
personification of intemperance through lust, "Vice for itself". He is all
the more dangerous because he has no temple or recognisable image, and it
is through this intemperance that the ultimate destruction, the fall of
Adam, occurs. However, we quickly return to this account of the angels'
most notable appearances throughout time, and what follows are the
classical tales that fascinated Milton, yet which he disdainfully deemed
inferior. The Ionian gods were descended from Noah, yet gods are by their
very existence self-being: Milton's sketch ...
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"Milton's Presentation Of The Fallen Angels." Essayworld.com. May 22, 2008. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Miltons-Presentation-Of-The-Fallen-Angels/84054.
"Milton's Presentation Of The Fallen Angels." Essayworld.com. May 22, 2008. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Miltons-Presentation-Of-The-Fallen-Angels/84054.
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