Free Will In John Milton's Paradise Lost

From the start, the creation and fall of Man is summarized in this: the creation and reason for human nature is "God gave Man free will, from Man's free will, sin and death came into the world." Although Milton is not necessarily saying the Fall of Man went down the way he wrote it, the story is much more believable – and more entertaining – if the characters seem like they could have been real people.
Satan places his pride first and resists obedience to God, thereby taking the alternative that is also available to human beings. But by persisting in his perversion of free will, Satan's sin expands and develops consequences for the human race. His resistance amounts to a claim of autonomy--total self-creation--which, as Milton's readers …show more content…
The angels of Heaven battled the rebel angels for several days, but the conflict was a draw. Then God the Father sends his Son to quell the rebellion. The Son casts Satan and the angels out of Heaven with only "half his strength. . .but check'd / His Thunder in mid Volley." Whereas Christ could have used all of His strength, he chooses "Not to destroy, but root them out of Heav'n." The hero will not utterly crush the weak like the rebel angels were, but will use only enough strength to accomplish the task. In addition to this, Christ is sent to the earth to judge Adam and Eve. Either man must die, or justice must. The Son of God states, "I shall temper so / Justice with …show more content…
Certainly, Milton's use of parody shines in the allegory; that there is, for example, a parody of the Holy Trinity is clear. That the Son is Light and Sin is Darkness is apparent; that the Holy Spirit is Life and is parodied by Death is also obvious. But there is a great deal