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Book II of Paradise Lost: A Satire for Sociopolitical Disunity within Revolutions

By Nam Le

March 7th, 2017

WHEN THOUSANDS TO MILLIONS of people unite to protest systematic

discrimination, public media antagonizes them as "social justice warriors." This pejorative term,

often used by conservative as well as some progressive media outlets, stigmatizes those

displaying sociopolitical initiatives towards change. However, political expression varies among

the American population, resulting in a much greater problem: the disunity within revolutions.

Historical revolutions like the English Civil Wars and the American Revolution were also

riddled with dissenting voices and strong opposition, that is to say, most sociopolitical

movements experience disagreement and division. Illustratively, John Milton's Book II of

Paradise Lost satirizes such political deliberation among Christian mythological characters to

represent British revolutionary leaders.

When initially reading Book II, we pick up Milton's characterization of Satan and his

fallen angels as disgruntled individuals eager for retaliation. Now, this is not to say that Milton

paints those seeking revolution in the same light as the exiled of Hell but rather they represent

marginalized groups of individuals within a society.

Marginalized communities today are constant victims of systematic oppression,

limitation, and discrimination. Many exercise their rights through proletarian methods but many

also express their beliefs through radical approaches. The degree of retaliation is an ongoing

debate within movements, deliberating between grassroots lobbying, public protesting, and to an

extent, violence. Though Paradise Lost was written in 1667, after the English Civil Wars, the

epic speaks to today's disunity within these movements when depicting Satan, Moloch, Belial,

Mammon, and Beelzebub as different types of revolutionary characters.

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Though controversial in many ways, Satan reminds us of a contemporary movement

leader who consults with his council in hopes of regaining prior status quo. Contextually, Satan

implores his legion to "debate," "advise," and "speak" (Milton 42) for and against retaking

Heaven through "open Warr or covert guile" (Milton 41).

Here, Satan offers two courses of action: violence or deceit. These two means of

revolution accentuate his vengeance and anger towards God, blinding him from considering

diplomacy as an option. In other words, he only sees red.

Speaking of red, a frustrated and rash Moloch speaks in favour of open war with God. He

preaches that they "are at worst" (Milton 100) staying complacent as "Heav'ns fugitives" (Milton

57). Thus as suffering individuals, seeking violence will not make their daily lives any worse

than currently.

As a radical leader, Moloch justifies violence with hopelessness and pessimism. His

nature alludes to present-day radical groups that express their marginalized voices through

violence. These types of groups garner followers through instinct-driven rhetoric and cynicism.

Nonetheless, impetuous authority leads to more radicalism and prejudice within a society.

Following that sense of cynicism, we have to talk about Belial and his deceptive speech.

Milton describes him as "dignity compos'd" (111) but "false and hollow" (112). In other words,

he is a great speaker who pleases "the ear" (117) with his "Tongue" (112), making "the worse

appear the better reason" (113-114).

In Belial’s speech, he argues against open war with God because God is "he who most

excels in fact of Arms" (Milton 124), making it impossible to defeat him through violence. He

displays his cowardice when he claims that being alive in Hell is much better than death. As a

cynical coward, Belial satirizes the contemporary submission to authority, accepting injustice to

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stay alive and to not make a scene. He represents those in American society who acknowledge

communal suffering and discrimination but chooses to salvage his own diplomacy with

authority.

Mammon subsequently echoes Belial's pessimism and cowardice; however, unlike Belial,

he does not believe that God will forgive the legion even if they pay their dues in Hell. He pleads

to the council that "all thoughts of war" (Milton 283) should be dismissed and that "hard liberty"

(Milton 256) will build them a new empire in Hell, ultimately giving them a half decent life.

Mammon is someone who would suggest to "just make the best of it" or "make

lemonades when life gives you lemons." It becomes very telling of the revolutionary leaders in

Satan’s legion when his speech receives large applause; the most passive and faint-hearted

proposed course of action. His character alludes to the modern Joe Schmoe who works a nine to

five job, relatively dissatisfied but not dissatisfied enough to quit or take any course of action;

too impartial and unmotivated to lead a revolution.

The last fallen angel introduced by Milton is Beelzebub, one of the seven princes of Hell.

Out of the angels who spoke, Beelzebub is the most practical of them all. He partially agrees

with Moloch about waging war with God; however, he suggests targeting God's precious "race

call'd Man" (Milton 348) instead of ambushing Heaven: "To waste his whole Creation" (Milton

365) or "Seduce them to our Party" (Milton 368).

Unlike Moloch, Belial, and Mammon, Beelzebub proposes a viable way, using both guile

and violence, to revolt against God. Everyone in the assembly votes in favour of his proposal;

however, no one volunteers to carry out the plan. Again, this is very telling of the character types

within Satan's legion. They are all cowards, including Beelzebub who initially suggests the plan.

Eventually, Satan volunteers to find Earth and leaves Hell.

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Book II's ending shows us how disunited Satan's legion of fallen angels is, with several

courses of retaliation suggested but no one brave enough to facilitate such revolution. The fact

that Satan is the only one who volunteers to venture outside of Hell exemplifies the lack of drive

and motivation, illustrating a disunited revolution.

Despite the cryptic and controversial Christian mythology behind Book II of Paradise

Lost, Milton's satirical take on revolutions can be applied to today's sociopolitical crisis. Modern

revolutions like the civil rights and environmental movements undergo impeded progress

because of disunity among characters within the groups.

Word Count: 961 words

References

Milton, John. "Paradise Lost: Book 2." Paradise Lost: Book 2. Web. 06 Mar. 2017.

<https://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_2/text.shtml>.