Paradise Lost: The Darkest Side of Humankind Paradise Lost, by John Milton, is an epic poem that deals with history, religion, paganism, and the never-ending battle of good against evil; however, it also depicts the darkest side of humankind that leads people to hurt each other. Throughout time, people have accepted and idealized the proposal of being perverted by someone else. They disagree with the consequences of handling free will improperly. They have found it very comfortable to place the blame of their misbehaviors on someone else: Satan. Nevertheless, the author states that humans are malevolent beings deep inside, and he describes this feature through the demons that rise against God: Belial, Mammon, Beelzebub, Moloch and Satan. Moreover, he praises humans’ ability to recover from chaos and adversity; for example, Adam and Eve represent courage and optimism to overcome the toughest circumstances.
Every demon stands for a repulsive and negative characteristic that human beings have. Beelzebub represents resentment, ill will, malice, and a bitter soul. He is identified as the God of flies; he is a disgusting character unable to recover from rejection. He stands for the necessity of acceptance versus vengeance for being separated from a group. He depicts love and pleasure for causing suffering to others. He is not afraid of chaos and worries about finding the ways out to bite the hand that feeds. Furthermore, Beelzebub makes defiant vows; he promises to keep doing harm without feeling any regret. For instance, “To do ought good never will be our task/ But ever to do ill our sole delight,” (1.159-160). He will continue causing chaos just for the sake of pleasure. Another fallen angel that describes the dreadfulness of human kind is Belial. He represents pusillanimity, the lack of courage to do what it takes to defy God and conquer his reign. He stands for all those people who always complain about everything but do not have the strength to take some action and change it.
In addition, upon Mammon rests unmeasured ambition and selfishness as a different, but not less harmful, human thought and hidden feeling. Humans are envious by nature, but of course if you ask people, they will deny they are. However, when they live in poverty or unhappily, they may feel miserable and blessed-less. They will never be satisfied with the possessions and gifts and have been given. They will always look forward to obtaining more material possessions, though they do not really need it. Moreover, when it comes to power and submitting people may experience even darker feelings. For instance, the demon states: “Either to disinthrone the king of Heaven / We warr, if warr be best, or to regain / Our own right lost/ […] The latter: for what place can be for us” (2.229-231, 235). Ironically, humankinds tend to think that they do deserve better, though they may have not done anything to really merit it.
The fourth demon, Moloch, stands for pain, suffering and sacrifice that people have to undergo. He is strongly attached to chaos and panic that humans usually reject to show to their equals. At the same time, it represents pleasure that some people may feel towards others suffering without feeling any remorse or mercy. Humankind may be selfish by nature; however, they may pretend they feel pity for their brothers and sisters. Their morbid minds feed out of the catastrophes and natural phenomena others may experience, they may act as if they cared; unfortunately, just a few of them really do.
By Pamela Calderon
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