The Existential Crisis and _Paradise Lost_

I never thought I would find myself saying this, but I've been getting really into Paradise Lost lately. I was afraid that the book would pretty much be too-complex plot full of allusions I was having to Google every page, but the past couple of books have really surprised me. I think what I've been enjoying most is the character development, especially of Satan. It's a pretty crazy idea really, writing an epic based on the Bible from Satan's perspective, and I have noticed myself thinking a lot about the moral dilemmas and arguments that have been posed as result of this. We talked a bit in class about the existentialist themes that come up in Paradise Lost, especially in Satan's speeches, so I decided to look into this more for my post this week.

Here's a depiction of a chaotic world if I ever saw one:
Brueghel, Pieter the Elder.
The Fall of the Rebel Angels. 1562.

Existentialism is an intellectual movement that was formalized in the aftermath of Word War II by writer Jean-Paul Sartre (though several writers and philosophers before him laid out the ideology behind the movement), and was further developed by writers such as Dostoyevsky, Albert Camus, and Samuel Beckett. The basic principle behind existentialism is the emphasis of the individual in an absurd and indifferent world. The slogan usually used to explain existentialism is "Existence Precedes Essence" - we have no control over the world around us, the only thing we can control is how we exercise free will. We must give our lives meaning, establish our own values, our own essence (Banach "Existentialism"). The idea of the individual having the power to control their moral codes and perception of the world around them appears often in Paradise Lost. In Satan's speech in Book 1 after the rebel angels fell to Hell, he describes himself as "One who brings a mind not to be chang'd by Place or Time./The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell of Heav'n" (Milton 1.253-55). I interpreted this as Satan asserting that no matter what situation God might put him in, he still has control over his mind.
This free will is portrayed as an intentional aspect of God's creations - God himself explains this in Book 3, speaking to his Son about how it is Satan's fault (and eventually man's fault) that they fell from Paradise: "I made him just and right,/Sufficient to have stood, though free to fall./Such I created all th'Ethereal Powers/And Spirits, both them who stood ad them who fail'd" (Milton 3.98-102). Throughout the following passage, God argues that if he hadn't given spirits the freedom to choose their values and actions, then he couldn't be sure that they were sincere in their allegiance to him. The idea that our fate is not predestined, that we are responsible for our own actions also appears in this passage: "They therefore as to right belong'd,/So were created, nor can justly accuse/Their maker, or their making, or their Fate;/As is Predestination over-rul'd/Their will, dispos'd by asbolute Decree/Or high knowledge; they themselves decreed/Their own revolt, not I" (Milton 1.111-117). Here God is saying that it isn't his fault the rebel angels fell from Heaven, they made the decision themselves to revolt. This argument appears again later on in Paradise Lost, after the creation of Adam and Eve. When the angel Raphael visit Adam, he tells him that if they are obedient they can one day come to Heaven. Adam is slightly aghast at the idea of "if" they are obedient, he wonders how he could not obey such a wonderful God. Raphael tells him that his happiness is his own decision: "That thou art happy, owe to God,/That thou continu'st such, owe to thyself/.../And good he made thee, but to persevere/He left in thy power, ordain'd thy will/By nature free, not overrul'd by Fate" (Milton 5.520-27).
This adds another element to the existentialist argument - we are responsible for determining our morals and living by them, but this also means that we are responsible for our actions. When Satan is first seeing Eden, he undergoes a complex inner reflection, and we see him experience some remorse about losing his place in Heaven. However, he acknowledges that he knows he is to blame for this because of how he exercised his free will:
 "Hadst thou the same free Will and Power to stand?/Thou hadst: whom hast thou them or what to accuse,/But Heav'n's free Love dealt equally to all?/Be then his Love accurst, since love or hate/To me alike, it deals eternal woe./Nay curs'd be thou; since against his thy will/Chose freely what it now so justly rues" (Milton 4.66-73).
Satan realizes he could have chose to stay and submit in Heaven, he tries to blame the nature of God's Love as forcing him into his situation, but then he sees that he still ultimately chose how he responded to his environment. This embodies the essence of existentialism - we can control the nature of the world around us, but we can determine the relationship we have with the world around us. Just as Adam and Eve are responsible for their happiness because of their decisions, Satan is unhappy because of his.
Most of the existentialist writings during the mid-1900's emphasized the idea of the alienated individual trying to find meaning in and make sense of a chaotic world. Much of this work was in a way protesting social and political systems that seemingly lacked moral logic, which makes sense given the historical context of the rise of Hitler and the brutality of World War II during this time (Crowell "Existentialism"). The existentialist themes that appear in Paradise Lost are considerably different from this - the free will of the individual or presented as an opportunity - you can have happiness and a beautiful world if you choose, that is, if you choose to obey God. Instead of protesting "the system", it is in a way encouraging conformity to God's laws. However, in my opinion existentialism is still technically prevalent throughout the work in the sense that God isn't responsible for our Fate - being omnipotent, God knows our Fate, but ultimately Adam, Eve, Satan, and all the other angels in the story are responsible for choosing their own fate. It will be interesting to see how (or if) this idea comes into play in future books of Paradise Lost, especially surrounding the fall of Adam and Eve.

Works Cited:
Banach, David. "Existentialism". Department of Philosophy. St. Alsem College. 2006. 27 Sep 2013. <http://www.anselm.edu/homepage/dbanach/sartreol.htm>.

Crowell, Steven. "Existentialism". Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Stanford University. 11 Oct 2010. 27 Sep 2013. <http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/existentialism/>.

Milton, John. Paradise Lost. New York, Ny: Penguin Books, 1968. Print.