Part of the reason why Milton’s task is so ominous is that the seemingly indescribable pervades Paradise Lost. Throughout the epic, Milton is faced with the challenge of not only describing, but manipulating concepts and characters such as God, Paradise, and Satan. These concepts are difficult to work with because of their abstract nature. The difficulty arises from the inability of any human being to comprehend them experientially. No one can truly know what good or evil are in their purest forms. No one can describe the perfect place with total accuracy because no one has ever experienced what it is to live in such a place.

The finest example of this involves the depiction of Paradise throughout Paradise Lost. In his depiction, Milton uses his own experience and understanding to depict a place of perfection. Can he be accurate, however,

without ever experiencing Paradise himself? In truth, he cannot. Each individual reader most likely has their own idea of Paradise. Whether or not these ideas coincide with those of Milton, all of them, including Milton’s, are incomplete. In Milton’s case, one of the striking aspects of Paradise is that Adam and Eve must both work to maintain the garden: “With first approach of light, we must be risen And at our pleasant labor, to reform Yon flow’ry arbors, yonder alleys green, Our walk at noon, with branches overgrown That mock our scant manuring, and

Heaven’s matchless King” (IV, 41), and realizes the root of his hatred, and why it is flawed: The debt immense of endless gratitude, So burdensome, still paying, still to owe, Forgetful what from Him I still received; And understood not that a grateful mind By owing owes not, but still pays, at once Indebted and discharged—what burden then (IV, 52-57)?

In the same fashion, the reader is deceived by Satan. Because of Milton’s masterful crafting of this character, Satan appears as a likable character, even to the reader. By creating Satan’s character so expertly as to deluded even the reader at times, Milton very precisely, but at the same time very subtly conveys the true danger and evil of Satan.

Satan understands that he owes God an irreconcilable debt for creating him and giving him life. He also comprehends that in being grateful, and in understanding the severity of the debt, one is discharged of it. And yet, Satan still hates all that God embodies. He carries Hell with him in his mind, and his fall from grace and banishment to Hell was merely a change of venue. Satan, at one point, ventures that a reconciliation with God and a return to Heaven would only constitute only a brief sojourn. He believes tha

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