after reading & analysing two chapters for my a level english literature course, i knew that one day i would revisit it in its entirety.  although not a christian myself anymore, i think being brought up religious helped me  explore this controversial representation of god & satan, as well as preserving adam & eve in different lights. milton subverts expectations by compelling the reader to be more interested in satan, the antagonist of all christian culture, presenting him as sexually endearing & morally grey rather than pure evil. i hate to say it but this may be the origin of the “i can fix him” trope! milton expertly fades the barrier between heaven & ‘goodness’ with hell & ‘evil’ by giving satan a captivating moral dilemma while depicting god as both ‘the creator’ & ‘the punisher’. god is arguably equally as flawed as satan. jesus ‘the son’ being in it was an interesting choice for me, introducing the idea of him being just as omnipresent as god, although he came across as a whiny chil in my opinion. 

now the most enticing element…eve being seen as inferior to adam. very traditionally domestic archetypes are used, portraying adam as protective yet controlling in all aspects, which i always imagined him as. i like to perceive this ‘fall of mankind’ as eve using the apple as a way to break constraints to achieve true independent fulfilment. she knew she was already trapped & if she wasn’t unhappy in paradise, i can’t blame her trying to get out & away from a man. obviously this is quite a feminist & modern way of reading paradise lost but i hope i’m not alone in my opinion. i’ve also used some of my favourite quotes & my annotations from my past self!