In this series, we’ve focused on Gustav Doré’s illustrations for John Milton’s 17th-century epic poem “Paradise Lost.” So far, we’ve covered Satan and the rebel angels being expelled from heaven for waging war against God. We also covered Satan rallying his troops and becoming the king of hell. In this article, we ask: Why does…
When Unchecked Evil Becomes the Object of Admiration
This series focuses on the art of Gustav Doré and started by looking at his illustrations for John Milton’s 17th-century epic poem “Paradise Lost.” In this next article, Satan has just finished rallying the rebel angels after they fell to hell. He calls out to them, shames them, and reinvigorates their passion to resist God. At…
Satan Rallies His Troops: What Happens When We Neglect to Root Out Sin
After Satan is cast out from heaven for competing with God, Satan and his army of rebel angels find themselves suffering in Hell. It’s not long, however, before Satan—despite the inevitability of losing to God—attempts to rally his troops to continue their battle against God and the heavenly angels. “Forthwith upright he rears from off…
Illustrious Ideas and Illustrations: The Imagery of Gustav Doré
John Milton began his tragic poem “Paradise Lost” by telling us of a great war in heaven. Wanting to rule heaven, Satan gathered a group of rebel angels to oppose God. Thus, Satan’s pride initiated a divine war. Of course, Satan and the angels who sided with him lost the war and were cast from…
Wisdom and God’s Illuminated Truths: John Martin’s ‘The Creation of Light’
Sometimes things happen in life, and we just don’t know how to respond to them. Nowadays, there are many self-help guides that try to help people navigate their lives wisely. We want to behave wisely, but what is wisdom? An illustration by the 19th-century artist John Martin, called “The Creation of Light” might give us…
Milton and the Sublime, Part 3: Enlarging Our Souls With ‘Paradise Lost’
Do we want to be better people? Do we want our character to improve? And do you want your own soul to realize its full potential? If so, then coming into contact with the sublime and specifically sublime literature can change you. Reading Milton’s “Paradise Lost” can show us the way to enlarge our own…
Milton and the Sublime, Part 2: The Power of ‘Paradise Lost’ to Astonish
In Part 1 of this article, we looked at how Keats in his poem “On First Looking Into Chapman’s Homer” established a moment of pure sublimity in its final line; we looked at how he did this. The poem’s structure is a movement: from mentioning something very small, a book, to something much bigger, a…
Milton and the Sublime, Part 1: Preparing for ‘Paradise Lost’
Sublimity is a word rather like “mystical” in that it is difficult to define exactly what it is, but most of us have had some experience of it. Indeed, when we do experience it, and if we are not emotionally dead, it leaves an indelible impression, for it is an experience, like love, that once…
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