Hennessee Hennessee, lice March 10, 2008 Engl 143; Prof McEachern T.A.

: Francesca Marx

The Mental Implications Correlating to Geographical Differentiations and Transitions within Miltons Paradise Lost

Miltons Paradise Lost contains many different geographical locations that allow Milton to create literary pauses correlating to each geographical transition. Each juncture either disturbs Satans momentum or inspires his next action, ultimately causing him to consider and reconsider his actions throughout the poems geographical transitions. Satans mental transitions are best shown each time he approaches and leaves the various gates, which stand between each region in the poem. Satans hesitations disrupt his momentum and give him an opportunity to reconsider his corruption and evil, allowing him to turn away from evil and, instead of seeking revenge, accept his fate or perhaps even repent. Satans prevailing decision, however, is always to continue with his plan to corrupt humanity and achieve revenge on God, solidifying his wretchedness and corrupted mentality despite any implications each geographical location may impose upon his state of mind. Thus, as Satan moves throughout the geography of the poem and his state of mind changes according to location, ultimately, he always returns to his Hellish state of mind, which implies an inability to understand Gods infinite

Hennessee goodness and verifies the control Hell and evil has over his thoughts. Thus, while each location may direct subsequent action and prompt Satan to consider alternative paths, his ultimate goal and action is never disturbed. Satans epic journey prompts him to undergo trials and tribulations and allow him to gradually move farther away from Hell physically, as well as mentally, but his mind remains attached to Hell since evil always prevails over any alternative considerations. Thus, the image at the opening of the poem is a very symbolic image and functions as a representation of Satans mental confinement, in spite of his efforts regardless of how trivial to become a good character. The first image the audience has of Satan is one of him chained to the fiery lake located on the outskirts of Hell, discussing one of his fellow fallen angels transition into a far more wretched form, since God cast them out of Heaven. The audience later comes to realize as Satan progresses through his journey that, like the image of him physically chained to Hell at the beginning of the poem, he remains mentally chained to Hell as well, though he physically travels outside of Hells geographical confines. Furthermore, Satans initial position on the outskirts of Hell has further implications regarding his course of action. Hell is bordered by Chaos/Night, which is described as a location that creates extreme confusion and directs action only by chance, because, according to the narrator, in Chaos/Night chance governs all (906-910). Satans initial position in Hell puts him extremely close to Chaos/Night, thus, his thoughts are indeed restless, confused and anguished. Not until Satan moves father inland and into Pandemonium is he able to devise a plan. Once Satan physically breaks free from his chains and moves toward the middle of

Hennessee Hell, he becomes more of a thinking character and asserts, Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven, which illustrates the literal and physical implications correlating to geographical differentiations and transitions. Only once he moves our of Hell and closer toward Earth, he makes the decision to construct a democratic Hell that is governed by what appears on the surface to be rational thought (263). When Satan geographically transitions to his throne in the center of Hell, Milton suggests a parallel to Satans position and the royal notion that the King is the center of the country and should, therefore, be the center of attention. Satan takes a very kingly and diplomatic stance while in Pandemonium and his new location prompts a sense of motivation and confidence, which directs his proposition to wage war on God and Heaven. After Satans burst of confidence and hope though false hope he proclaims his intentions, We may with more successful hope resolve / To wage by force or guile eternall Warr / Irreconcileable, to our grand Foe (119-121). Satans proclamation is followed by a very democratic debate regarding the best course of action and while we see the rest of the fallen angels rather skeptical to Satans proposition, the audience first witnesses Satan as a very persuasive, enthusiastic and motivating leader. Satans geographical situation on his throne prompts a response much like a king on his throne, rallying his troops for battle. Satan later delivers a very motivating speech where he implores, Awake, rise, or be for ever falln (330). Yet, while Satan seems to be a very confident figure while on his throne in Pandemonium, once he leaves his throne, the audience realizes this confidence was only farcical and artificial because his confidence does not prevail once he begins his journey onto

Hennessee new, unknown and pressing territories and the audience sees Satan as the doubtful, confused and corrupted character he is. Satans journey to Earth requires him to pass through Chaos/Night and return to the borders of Hell once again, which only restores his state of confusion and anguish, a state of mind witnessed in the beginning of the poem, during his discussion with Beelzebub while chained to the fiery lake located on the outskirts of Hell. Satan encounter Sin and Death, the gate-keepers of Hell and Chaos/Night and his interaction with Sin reveals Satans restored sense of confusion when his geographical position is closer to the border of Chaos/Night. Satan does not even recognize Sin, his own daughter, and she must practically beg him to recognize her. Satans failure to recognize his own daughter, foreshadows the confusion he will experience once he leaves the gates of Hell and truly embarks on his epic journey. Before reaching the gates of Hell, Satan is one who just finished rallying his fallen angels and convincing them that his plan to corrupt humanity will prevail and he is seen as a very enthusiastic character, who is eager to begin his journey. Yet, once Satan reaches the gates of Hell, this momentum is disrupted. Satan pauses, which signifies not only a stop in momentum, but also a re-calculation of Satans heroic nature. Not only does Satan pause, but also, his pause causes the reader to pause and re-consider Satans appeal as a hero. Once Satan realizes who Sin and Death are, his state of mind transitions from confused to eager and empowered. In fact, Satan claims that he arrives in order to rescue Sin and Death from their plight and that he will give them power on Earth once his mission succeeds a promise he manages to fulfill. Satans recognition temporarily takes his mind away from

Hennessee confusion and motivates him, causing an eager response to his planned course of actions. Satan recognizes how useful Sin and Death can be, not only in allowing him to pass through the gates of Hell, but also aid in his attempt to ruin humanity. Yet, again, this state of awareness proves fleeting and while Satans location prompts a temporary state of awareness and rationality, he quickly returns to his Hellish and evil state of confusion. Satans arrival at the gates of Hell, bordering Chaos/Night is the first time the audience witnesses one of Miltons literary pauses correlating to a geographical transition where Satan faces his first opportunity to reconsider his ill-intent and corrupted course of action and turn away after becoming aware of difficult his journey will be. Chaos/Night is describes as an Ilimitable ocean without bound [,] wilde Abyss, / The Womb of nature and perhaps her Grave, / Of neither Sea, nor Shore, nor Air, nor Fire, / But all these in thir pregnant mist / Confusdly, and which thus must ever fight (891; 909-914). Chaos/Night is a confused and dimensionless world that does not lend itself to sanity, bounds or rationality, thus, Satans thoughts cannot be certain nor formulated in a place governed by chance, or the unintentional. Satans reaction is prompt the sight of vastness which signifies the vastness and confusion of his subsequent journey. The speaker explains Satans response to geographical location, Into this wilde Abyss the warie fiend / Stood on the brink of Hell and lookd a while, Pondering his Voyage (915-917). Satans over confidence and motivation in Pandemonium completely escapes him once he arrives at the border of Chaos/Night and he becomes weary and doubtful. At this point, Satan has the opportunity to realize the darkness of his journey darkness

Hennessee meaning both confused and corrupted and turn back; yet, Satan is confused, his mind returns back to its Hellish nature and he rides audacious[ly] into Chaos and eagerly [] pursues his way (931; 946-948). Satans pause and disrupted momentum from a very motivated character to a doubtful one, emphasizes the poems argument that Satan chooses to be evil. Even though Satan is often dissuaded and his environment and surroundings attempt to alter his evil course of action by prompting him to reconsider his intentions, he cannot escape from the Hell in his mind even if he momentarily considers it. This idea brings the reader back to the image at the beginning of the poem where Satan breaks free from his chains confining him the fiery lake within Hell. The audience sees that though he has physically broken free from his chains and attempts to leave the physical location of Hell, ultimately, he is unable to break free from the mental confinement of Hell though the difficult nature of his journey serves to persuade him, he always seems to find his way home to corruption. Once Satan moves through Chaos/Night and reaches the border of the World, his new location prompts a mental state of loss and despair. Satans transition out of the confusion with Chaos/Night is not only a physical transition out of a chaotic and borderless geography of confusion and into the Universe a very bordered and well thought out geographical space but Satan experiences a mental transition as well: out of confusion and into awareness. When Satan into the Universe and sees the stairway that Jacob saw in Genesis which ascends up to the gates of Heaven, he is overcome by a sense of loss. Heaven is describes as Viewless to Satan, solidifying his extreme separation from Heaven and his fallen state. The speaker

Hennessee informs the audience that geographical transition and the image of the stairway is meant to prompt a reaction from Satan, The Stairs were then let down, whether to dare / The Fiend by easie ascent, or aggravate / His sad exclusion from the dores of Bliss (Bk III: 523-525). Indeed, Satan does respond and the narrator describes, Such wonder seisd, though after Heaven seen, / The Spirit maligne, but much more envy seisd / At sight of all this World beheld so faire (552-555). Again, Milton creates a disruption in momentum where Satan pauses and witnesses Gods graciousness and he can very well stop and reconsider his evil course of action. Yet, Satans pause only proves to allow him the opportunity to contemplate his next move in order to further his plan of corruption. Thus, again, his pause only serves to quickly return back to his Hellish state of mind. Satans pause once he enters the Universe does not serve to dissuade him from his evil plan; rather, it allows him to consider a prospective way into Earth in order to continue with his revengeful intentions. Satan discovers Uriel, Earths gatekeeper, and he proceeds to Uriel in disguise with the intention of persuading him to open the gate to Earth so he can continue his journey. Again, Satans course of action supports the argument that Satan chooses to be evil and he faces the opportunity to turn away from evil, yet, again, he does not. Satans geographical transition from Chaos/Night into the Universe, however, is unique from the others discussed in that, whereas all of Satans previous doubts and reconsiderations hinged on the realization that his journey would only prove difficult, he was never reminded of Gods goodness, simply the dark, chaotic and confused nature of his surroundings. Whereas here, an enormous amount of light surrounds Satan and he

Hennessee becomes aware not only of his separation from all of Gods goodness, but what could potentially be restored if he were to repent and revert from his evil ways. Before, one could argue that Satan decides to continue his evil journey after his momentum is disrupted and he questions his course of action because he feels there are no better alternatives and if he retreats, he will only return to Hell, a less than desirable location. Yet, Satan is now faced with the argument that if he retreats and asks for forgiveness he will not have to return to his Hellish geographical location but Satan disagrees with this argument. Satans encounter with Paradise prompts the most mental response, by far. Once Satan sees the brilliance and goodness of Paradise he is overcome with despair, hopelessness, acceptance and determination. Satan sees Adam and Eve and decides he will tempt them into damnation. Yet, Satans stops once again, and here, the narrator emphasizes the extent to which his momentum is disrupted, explaining, like a devilish Engine, back recoiles, / Upon himself; horror and doubt distract / His troubled thoughts, and from the bottom stir / The Hell within him (17-20). Paradise and the sight of Adam and Eve impose feelings of doubt, anger and horror and Satan reaches the awareness that, though he is physically surrounded by goodness and beauty, his physical environment does not permeate into his consciousness and he is forever in a mental state of despair. Thus, while Milton goes to great lengths to distinguish between geographical locations and the effects each location has on Satans state of mind, Satan is under the assumption that his physical geographical transitions have no consequence on his wretched and fallen state of mind and while he may have momentary relapses where his geographical

Hennessee transitions prompt him to consider alternatives to his evil plan, he deviates away from any notions of repentance and ultimately, his wretched and hopeless state of mind is always restored, thus, Satan proves to correct in his argument. Satan goes as far as to ask, is there no place / Left for Repentance, none for Pardon Left?, as if repentance and pardon are directly correlated to a geographical location a location which he claims he has yet to discover. Satans question verifies the fact that in Paradise Lost, geography is, indeed, linked to states of mind and mental reactions and transitions, yet all the geographical transitions within the poem have, ultimately, only caused despair, whether as a result of Satans confusion as a result of his location, his understanding that his journey will be difficult or his awareness of how far away he is from goodness and Gods grace. Paradise Lost is very geographically dynamic which serves the purpose to make Satan a dynamic character by way of the dynamics he encounters throughout his journey. Ultimately, Milton creates literary pauses throughout the poem that also have a very dynamic purpose. Not only do the pauses serve to disturb the momentum that prompts Satan to consider the consequences of his actions if he chooses to carry them out and allow him to turn away, but the pauses also allow the reader to pause and reconsider his/her own sympathy toward Satan partly based on the notion that he is a heroic character. One sees that he is full of revenge, doubt and despair and although he is given a way out through repentance, he refuses to deviate away from his evil nature; whereas most individuals who initially identify with Satans humanistic characteristics would take the alternative of Hell if it were ever to become an option. By the end of the poem, Satan has lost the audiences

Hennessee sympathy which strengthens his claim that Which way I flie is Hell; my self am Hell, and his assertion brings the reader back to the idea proposed in Book One of Paradise Lost which claims The mind is its own place, and in it self / Can make a Heacn of Hell, a Hell of Heavn (Bk 4 ln 75; Bk 1 ln 253). Then the argument becomes that while Milton went to great lengths to delineate the differences between geographical locations and their implications on ones consciousness, the most important location is, in fact, the mind itself.