Conflicting Characterization of Heroism in the Epic Poem Style of “Paradise Lost”

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Conflicting Characterization of Heroism in the Epic Poem Style of Paradise Lost by John Milton
This poetic study will analyze the conflicting role of the hero and the anti-hero that Milton provided in the use of the classical epic poem style used in Paradise Lost. In many ways, Adam provides the context of the classical epic hero in the form of the poem in that he is tragic and losses Eden, yet Satan is also heroically portrayed as also losing his “Eden” by being cast out of heaven. While Satan is a character often defined by his pride and envy as a anti-hero, Milton fails to provide a context for the epic form by aligning the doctrine of the “wayes of God to men” in Satan as hero, but he does provide it through more thoroughly the...

.....ualities in the epic poem tradition. While Adam is also realized in the epic poem tradition as a tragic hero, Milton fails again at his doctrine by making Satan a peer or equal in their demise. In this way, Milton succeeds at using epic traditions in the tragic hero, but often strays from his doctrine in the conflicting heroism he assigns his heroes in the name of God. These are the crucial and complex ways in which Milton’s creates a conflicting paradigm of the tragic hero, which often fails to logically assign morally convincing roles to Adam and Satan in their fall from heavenly grace.
Works Cited:
Milton, John. “Paradise Lost.” 2010. Dartmouth.edu. April 2, 2010. <http://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/intro/index.shtml>