Human Behavior Explored in the

Human Behavior Explored in the Works of John Milton The English poet John Milton was born on December 9, 1608 in London, near St. Paul's Cathedral. This remarkable birthplace serves to be prophetic as Milton becomes one of the most outspoken voices f his time regarding human behavior and one's relationship with God. Milton was one of three children born to John and Sara Milton. Their family parish, All Hallows, was famous for reforming Puritan ministers. Milton's father was a professional scrivener as well as a musician and composer.

(Skerpan-Wheeler) in 1620, Milton attended St. Paul's school and in 1625, he entered Christ's College of the University of Cambridge. Here Milton studied logic, rhetoric, and ethics and became bishop of Cork in 1638. He wrote two books about preaching during this time and within a few years, he was "composing strong, if humorous critiques of strict old-fashioned Aristotelian philosophy" (Skerpan-Wheeler). Milton left Cambridge and became a private student in 1632 in hopes to "serve his country by becoming a 'relater of the best and sagest things among mine own Citizens'" (Skerpan-Wheeler).

Milton concluded his education by touring Italy and other countries. When he returned to Britain because of news of the civil unrest in Britain, Milton was a tutor but he also began to publish pamphlets known as "antiprelatical tracts" (Skerpan-Wheeler). Many of Milton's works exploited conventions and traditions and some expose his reasons for not becoming a clergyman. Albert C. Labriola asserts, "Milton's chief polemical prose was written.

during the strife between the Church of England and various reformist groups such as the Puritans and between the monarch and Parliament" (Labriola). Labriola also asserts that these works, "advocate a freedom of conscience and a high degree of civil liberty for humankind against the various forms of tyranny and oppression, both ecclesiastical and governmental" (Albert C. Labriola). His works were not without controversy and fame. He married Mary Powell in 1642 and Skerpan-Wheeler asserts that this was probably an arranged marriage because Milton's father owed Powell's father money.

Mary returned to her family within months of becoming married but after external pressure, she returned to Milton and they had a daughter, Anne. His marriage endured troubles, however, and this prompted him to write many tracts about divorce. He takes on conventional thought by using the government as an analogy for his argument that if a nation can divorce itself from a failing monarch, then a husband or wife should be able to divorce him or herself from a husband or wife that is incompatible.

Milton continued to write about concerns of his day, including education, art, logic, and religious doctrine. Milton's eyesight began going and by 1652, he was totally blind. His wife died in childbirth to their third daughter. In 1656, Milton married again to Katherine, who died in 1658. In 1663, Milton married Elizabeth Minshull and is noted to have lived a peaceful life with her. There is no doubt that Milton's political beliefs affected his writing.

This was an organic process, as it tends to be with all thinker and writers, and Milton seemed to appreciate the unfolding nature of history. The things he experienced allowed him to write what he did with a unique perspective and we can know that he was writing from his own experience and his own passion. Nothing illustrates this more than "Paradise Lost" when we see the elements of the Western world infused with the destiny of one of the oldest stories known to man.

Roy Flannagan asserts that Milton was a "child of the Protestant Reformation" (Flannagan 9), contending that that there are very few individuals that have read as much as Milton read. He wrote dictionaries in Latin and Greek that were so "precise and complete" (Flannagan 10), that they were used as models for later dictionaries. When the new government struggled and returned to kingship, was "jailed for his role in the now disgraced regicidal (king killing) government" (Moss).

While there is much logic in Milton's work, it should also be noted that his work is recognized for its quality as well. Thomas Macaulay claims that Milton's poetry "produces an illusion on the eye of the mind, as a magic lantern acts best in a dark room" (Macaulay 6), acting like an "incantation" (8).

Even though Paradise Lost was written at a time when "images of beauty and tenderness are in general beginning to fade" (19), Milton "adorned it with all that is most lovely and delightful in the physical and moral world" (19). This type of adornment is what allows Milton's poetry to b studied today. While Milton is notorious for his poetry, it is worth noting that his prose became significant, especially during the English civil War. He was convinced that the political disturbance in England deserved his attention.

Alexander Witherspoon notes that even before the break between the Protestants and loyalists, Milton had "allied himself firmly with the Puritan party by a series of pamphlets" (Witherspoon 260). Perhaps one of his most compelling pieces during this time is the Tenure of Kings and Magistrates, where Milton justifies the execution of Charles.

Shortly after the execution o the king, Milton was appointed as Latin Secretary to the Commonwealth Council of State, where he served for eleven years and gave to that cause "Most of his energy, his talents, and his eyesight" (Witherspoon 378). This length of time Milton committed to the cause demonstrates his passion for not only the war but also its outcome. His sentiments are reflected in his art. Lewalski writes that Milton's final years were "busy and productive" (489).

He wrote "two remarkable poems" and Paradise Regained as well as Samson Agonistes. She notes that Paradise Regained "offers Jesus in a model of unflinching resistance to and forthright denunciation of all versions of the sinful or distorted life" (493). In Samson Agonistes, Milton presents us with a "warrior hero" (493).

Both of these works, she maintains, "dramatize, in different ways, Milton's characteristic stance in the prose tracts: the atonement of liberty, the exercise of governance, and indeed any worthy action in the service of God and country are predicated on virtue, sound moral and political understanding, and openness to divine illumination" (493). Thoughts, beliefs, and passions meet in what is arguable Milton's greatest work, "Paradise Lost." J.

Martin Evans contends that echoes of Milton's political thought can be seen in "Paradise Lost." Evans states, "The motives which impel Satan on his voyage replicate, in turn, virtually all the social and political arguments advanced in favor of England's colonial expansion in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries" (Evans). He observes, "During the course of the poem, then, Satan rehearses virtually all the major roles in the repertoire of English colonial discourse.

By turns buccaneer, pilgrim, and empire-builder, he embodies not only the destructive potential of imperial conquest but its glamour and energy as well. It may well be no accident that the critical glorification of Milton's devil took place during the heyday of England's imperial power while his descent from hero to fool coincided with its decline" (Evans). In addition, "God's emissaries, too, function as agents of imperial authority. Indeed, Raphael has in some ways even more in common with the explorers than his diabolical antagonist" (Evans).

Even Adam and Eve represent English settlers in Evans' opinion. While this idea might appear to be far-fetched, it is important in that it allows us to see the importance of the war in Milton's opinion. Joyce Moss aggress that political struggles can be seen in the epic. She states: Paradise Lost is rife with insurrection. Lucifer's, Adam's, and Eve's. By the poem's conclusion, it is clear that obedience to God ought to provide a system of ordering man's behavior in the world.

But it is equally clear, according to the poem, that political struggle is a sad fact of fallen humanity, one that perhaps may never be satisfactorily resolved, and that this struggle is rooted in the original battle in the Garden of Eden, in which desire was allowed to overpower reason. In this dark philosophy, upon which the poem ends, one perhaps sees Milton's own hard-learned political lessons.

(Moss) Barbara Lewalski asserts that in "Paradise Lost," Milton "poured all that he had learned, experienced, desired, and imagined about life, love, artistic creativity, theology, work, history, and politics" (Lewalski). She claims that the poem is a "more daring political gesture than we often realize" (Lewalski 442) because it "undertakes a strenuous project of educating readers in the virtues, values, and attitudes that make a people worthy of liberty" (Lewalski 442).

While on the surface, the epic seems to be a tale of Adam and Eve and the fall, it is certainly much more. "Paradise Lost" is laced with several underlying themes that relate to human behavior. The overarching story discloses Milton's ideal society through the revelation of man, woman, and their mistakes in the garden. There is no doubt that disobedience plays a significant part in this story because it is through disobedience that Adam and Eve discover truth.

The characters of God, Stan, and Jesus are also significant in this epic and because they are considered valuable in their roles in the poem, we can assume that Milton found similar value with these characters in life itself. Through these characters, Milton is presenting not only a hierarchy but also a way in which things should operate. God's supremacy is unquestionable in this realm and demonstrated early in the poem through events leading to Satan's attempt to overthrow him.

In addition, Adam and Eve have free will, which also allows us to see the power of God through his creations. He did not create robots but real creatures that can make their own decisions -- even when they will be the worst decision of their lives. This foundation provides the perfect backdrop to the story of man and his behavior as he walks this earth. Adam and Eve prove to be the most effective characters is Milton's attempt to depict mankind.

They are the ultimate man and woman endowed with qualities that their descendants could only dream about as they contemplate perfection. Perfection becomes the thing that Adam and Eve take for granted and in this act, they are the most human they will ever be and for this we can certainly relate to them. Milton points to their mistakes and the ensuing consequences of them. Their mistake is what makes them like us it is through their mistake that Milton can espouse his beliefs.

One of the most significant things Milton does in regard to their mistake is call it a sin. He writes, "they knew, and ought to have remembered" (Milton Paradise Lost X.12) but as we all know, they did not remember until it was too late. The significance of the mistake and the sin is that Adam and Eve chose to disobey even when they knew that it was wrong. This illustrates their stubborn human nature as well as their access to act on their free will.

The couple deliberately chose to step away from God's truth at that moment and, as a result, they "deserved to fall" (X.16). The event was a sad one for all involved. We read that the angels were "mute and sad/for Man; for of his state, they knew" (X.19). The significance of the sin was far too great for Adam and Eve to actually contemplate, so Milton has the entire heaven reeling from what has occurred.

The couple eventually experiences "guilt,/and shame, and perturbation, and despair,/Anger, and obstinacy, and hate and guile" (X.112-4), emotions that make them more human than they would probably like to be. Their fallen nature is something that has been handed down from generation to generation and this is the image of man that Milton wanted us to remember not out of sadness but out of the hope that we will not repeat their mistake and sin against God.

The judgment of man begins to explore Milton's notions on how mankind should behave. The very basic underlying theme we have here is that in order for society to operate smoothly and for harmony to be achieved, there should exist a hierarchy in which listens to and obeys God. Because of the free will that man feels so inclined to follow, punishment becomes an undesired effect for sin.

We learn from Adam how important it becomes to follow the will of God; he tells us at the end of the epic: Henceforth I learn that to obey is best, And love with fear the only God, to walk As in his presence, eve to observe His providence, and on him sole depend. (XII.561-4) Here Adam is explaining what he has learned from his terrible mistake.

From his experience, he understands the full scope of individual responsibility and, unfortunately, this is something that he could not have done so well in his innocent, sinless state. Adam learns that responsibility requires more than doing things because they sound good or because they feel good. Adam and Eve made poor choices based upon their human desires and curiosity. They made the mistake of leaning upon their own understanding and logic to make a choice. This is clearly not the way to make decisions, as Milton points out.

His point is for us to learn from their mistakes. It is important to note that while Adam and Eve do make a disastrous mistake, their lives and their relationships with God are by no means over. The relationship has simply changed and while things are good, they will never be as good as they were before but this is simply the way of life. Milton also illustrates desirable human behavior in other works as well.

The characters of Jesus and Samson in his poems "Paradise Regained" and "Samson Agonistes" also serve as reminders on how to behave in this world. Throw these men's experiences, we can learn lessons just as we learned with Adam and Eve. Jesus learns the significance of temptation while Samson becomes knowledgeable in reconciliation with God. Both characters illustrate how we should live our lives in response to creatures of God. Jesus teaches us how important it is for us to obey God and submit to him first and foremost.

Samson teaches us that repentance is necessary for reconciliation with God. These two men are worlds apart as far as their place in the hierarchy of things but they are very similar in that they teach us how to live in a world that is created by God. While we are surrounded by technology and other distractions, we should never.