Emilia

Emilia states

I will be hanged, if some eternal villain,

Some busy and insinuating rogue,

Some cogging, cozening slave, to get some office,

Have not devised this slander. I will be hanged else!

It almost seems as if she knows it is her husband... or else this statement is just extremely ironic. At this point, how could she not have any inkling of Iago's intentions? Could this be some subliminal message to Desdemona...or is Emilia blindly raging this? Is this her way of attacking her husband without actually attacking him?

brilliant

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Satan's temptation

satan tempts eve with comments of flattery which she resists thenhe movs to more theological attempts explainingthat if she eats the fruit she will "die" in the sense of becoming divine with the attainment of knowledge ass he the snake became human by eating the fruit and by attaining knowwledge she would  know hoow to be good and how to avoid evil which eve simply repeats in  her  justification which shows eve to be easily manipulatible

Satan Tempts Eve

The serpent's persuasion is very traditional. Praise the subject and entice them. But Eve is completely oblivious to his comments that "all that fair and good in thy Divine/ Semblance" (606-7).  He constantly addresses her as "the sovran mistress" and "resplendent Eve" (532 and 568). To the reader all this praise appears to be useless on Eve because she gives no hint to being flattered by Satan's words, but Milton mentions "Into the Heart of Eve his words made way" (550). Milton emphasizes this fact by his punctuation and italics in this quote. However on the surface Eve is amazed with his ability to speak. Satan's story is flawed. He was the ONLY one that could climb the tree and eat the fruit? What about the birds, the giraffes, the fallen fruit? Eve is just a complete novice in this world if she didn't think about these possibilities. Satan plays an excellent game though because the fruit apparently just made him think of Eve. How romantic!

Milton mentions that the serpent made the "intricate [path] seem strait" (632). This line obviously not only talks about Satan physically guiding Eve to the Tree of Knowledge, but also making his point obvious and easy to accept in Eve's mind. This resembles the persuasions of Screwtape this summer. They always wanted to make their twisted and sinful ways seem like the road straight to heaven. Go to church but do it because a woman is there. I really liked Milton's simile here to the flames in the Dead Marsh in The Lord of the Rings. It is the same idea that if you follow the wrong light during the night, the traveler will end up at the wrong place.

Echoes of Satan's Speech

In our fourth reading assignment, Satan gives this heroic speech about the battle they have lost, and how god is at fault for not showing his full power. The interesting line though was when Satan says  "So as neither to provoke, or dread/ New warr, provok't..."(645-646). These lines are echoed by the speeches of Moloch and Belial later. Moloch is all for the next war while Belial prefers not doing anything else to provoke God. Milton must have forgottent to turn the page, or maybe this is an imitation of group dynamics. After Satan's great speech, each demon tries to gain the respect of his peers by pulling parts of the fame.

Even Beelzebub's idea to begin tempting the humans is echoed in the lines following.

Reading 5 Satan = corrupt politicians?

I cannot help but think of Satan as a politician fighting to win the most praise, honor, glory, and respect from all the angels imprisoned by God in order to keep his reign. After the speeches by the top angels, Satan rises to take the challenge to find Earth and start corrupting human kind for everyone's benefit in Hell against God. Satan says that he should take on the travel full of misery because he is the highest in rank and with rank comes more responcibility. So, that makes sense. But then he tells his followers to "Go therfore mighty powers,/ Terror of Heav'n, though fall'n; intend at home,/ While here shall be our home, what best may ease/ The present misery, and render Hell/ More tollerable...While I abroad/ Through all the coasts of dark destruction seek/ Deliverance for us all..." (II.457-467).  Basically, everyone chill and find out ways to ease your pain while Satan suffers terribley for you and our goals to seek revenge on God is what he's saying. By putting all of the hardship on himself, a ONE MAN JOB, the angels in Hell cannot help him and feel the need to praise him. Satan wins. I bet Moloch, Baliel, Mammon, and Beez are rolling their eyes and wishing they stood up to the challenge first like someone else mentioned. I noticed also that Satan still referes to everyone in Hell as princes of heaven. "Oh Progeny of Heav'n, Empyreal Thrones" (II.430). Even though Beezlebub just spoke about why they should find a different name, Satan still calls his "friends" his "peers" worthy of heaven or greatness. Satan is only appealing to everyone well beneath him (not so much Beezlebub, Moloch, Beliel, or Mammon) in order to be "re-elected".

Reading 5- Demon Council

In the demon council, Satan speaks first, saying that their loss makes them stronger and will make their victory that much more satisfying. He says that they have to unite against God and invites his followers to speak their opinions.  Moloch speaks first, promoting full-force immediate attack on God and Heaven. His words and argument are made forceful and less appealing because of his uncontrollable and self-consuming hatred towards God and his inclination for brute force.  Belial speaks next. He argues for no war at all but waiting in Hell. He says that they will get to used to the fires of Hell and will prefer them over the wrath of God. He basically says that they are lucky that their punishment was not more severe.  Belial's argument seems more reasonable and appealing than Moloch's because of his eloquent speech, but is unsatisfying because of his laziness and lack of motivation for anything.  Mammon speaks last and has the most persuasive and logical argument. He seems almost more motivated and moving than Satan because of the strength and steadfastness of his position. Unlike Satan, he does not change his mind or switch opinions in order to manipulate the other demons. He simply says what he believes, so one might even say he's more driven and more powerful than Satan.

God's intentions with fallen angels (rd 2)

(good and evil) The fallen angel from lines 143-157 wonders why God let the them, the rebels in punishment, keep their minds and spirit. He mentions how miserable he is because he can remember the pleasures and happiness of heaven in contrast to his new world. In a way he is questioning the "goodness" of God. If God is good and forgiving, why does he send Satan and his followers out of heaven with out a chance to ever return? Or does God even send them to Hell like Milton says? I keep thinking of Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort. Lord Voldemort constantly tells Wormtail that he is only loyal to him through fear. Would it be arguable to say that angels in heaven and men may follow God and worship him out of fear of hell and God's power to put them there (if he even does so)? Is this why the bible, Jesus, and God's messengers say "Do not be afraid" before they speak of God's plans? Since God is omnicient, he would have anticipated Satan and his followers starting an unending war, and let it happen knowing that the fallen agnels would serve as examples of those who turned against God or disobeyed him. (A possible strategy of God's.)

(Problem) However, did God actaully create and place satan into the underworld? If heaven is such a rightous, happy, and suitable place, how could a conflict or desire to turn against God could not possibly occur? I do not remember the bible containing any statements of a war or conflict in heaven either. Rather, Satan is described as simply wanting to turn away from God. If your happy, why would you want to turn away? The stories that I have learned from my parents, church, and Paradise Lost are starting to conflict with each other. I'm rather confused about how a rebel against God came to be. I think this paragraph connects with a previous entry about the accuracy of the events that are in the Bible. Anyone can walk home and tell a story about speaking with God, but how many would do so and then publish volumes of their experience?

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