Page 207 - DENG405_BRITISH_POETRY

British Poetry

Notes sins of death and dancing and sex. These scenes depict a later era in which sins of the flesh will
abound. A single man can be seen, preaching to the others to repent and stop this evil way of life,
but he is ignored. He goes off into the mountains and constructs a giant boat, filling it with all the
animals of the Earth, and his family. A great flood then comes, wiping out all living things except
those on the boat. The good man who builds the boat is Noah. Michael explains how God was
angered by humankind’s sinful ways, and decided to cleanse the earth of them. He finds one virtuous
man, Noah, and preserves humankind through him. The flood wipes out all human life except for
Noah and his family. At the end of the flood, Adam sees a rainbow appear and God’s covenant with
humankind that he will never again destroy the Earth by flood. Adam feels reassured by this story
and its promise that virtue and obedience to God will continue on Earth through Noah.

Analysis
The visions in Books XI and XII provide a larger context to Paradise Lost and allow Milton to “justify
the ways of God to men” and to conclude his epic poem with the message that one must live
virtuously and be obedient to God. These stories, narrated as Adam’s visions, explain why God
allows sin and death into the world, and why God wants us to live a certain way. Without these
visions and stories, Milton could not explain God’s reasoning and his glorious plan for humankind.
These visions enable Milton to transcend his focus from the first narrative in the Bible to subsequent
books, so that he can discuss human history in broad terms. Part of his message is that human
history should be told in terms of its sins, not its advancements in civilizations or invention. These
visions expose a dangerous cycle of sins, from sloth and envy to gluttony and lust. Through these
visions, Milton asserts the need for repentance and service to God.
Adam and Eve’s repentance is made possible through the grace of God. The act of repentance was
necessary for salvation, and since God wanted humankind to be redeemed, he planted the seeds of
repentance in the souls of Adam and Eve. This realization is appropriate to the belief that humankind,
after the fall, is totally depraved. Adam and Eve cannot do anything good on their own accord
without God’s guidance. God also now specifically reveals why he allows Death to come into the
world. Humankind is now impure and unfit for Paradise, as well as for the kingdom of Heaven.
The sacrifice of Jesus makes humankind worthy of Heaven: his sacrifice is humankind’s final remedy.

The price of Jesus’ sacrifice is heavy, but the reward outweighs the cost. After death,
humankind can be purified and renewed, thus restoring them to their previous position
as God’s obedient children.

The whole sequence of visions contains a careful emotional balance between grief at the corruption
of sin and joy at the redemption of the moral soul. Michael evokes this balance through these visions
to inform Adam of humankind’s sins and punishments, as well as their sacrifices and rewards.
Otherwise, he might have given up hope, and God does not want humankind to fall victim to the
same despair that doomed Satan. On the other hand, Adam cannot fail to realize just how depraved
humankind will become as a result of the fall—Adam and Eve’s sins will be repeated again and
again by their children and their children’s children. The vision of ensuing decay through war,
disease and intemperate living gives Adam a tremendous sense of worry and shame. But the figure
of Enoch, the one who is saved by God, demonstrates the need to stand up for one’s moral beliefs,
even if other nonbelievers will kill one for such integrity. The strength and hope in Enoch’s story
gives Adam the confidence he needs to continue living obedient to God.
Milton presents Adam, along with other men from his vision, as prefigurations of Christ. The whole
scene with Adam on the mountain prefigures an event in Jesus’ life. In the Gospels, Satan takes
Jesus up onto a mountain and offers him all the kingdoms of the world, if he will bow down in

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