Paradise Regained

Paradise Regained begins with an invocation of divine power; the poem’s narrator calls upon God’s spirit to inspire his song, much as God has inspired acts of Christian virtue and excellence such as Jesus’s repudiation of Satan. Milton’s narrator then describes how John the Baptist called a congregation to the Jordan River. Among those present was Jesus, who was recognized at the Baptism as the Son of God when the heavens opened above him.

This proclamation of Jesus’s role discomforts Satan. Retreating to an assembly of his fellow evil beings, Satan calls attention to their current dominion over the affairs of men and points out that such rule is now in jeopardy. After recounting the dramatic manner in which the clouds parted and the spirit of God (in the form of a dove) appeared at the baptism, Satan declares that he will go forth to oppose Jesus. He is convinced that, already having led Adam and Eve into evil, he may succeed here, as well.

Satan’s fellow spirits approve of the plan that has been announced to them. Yet God is well aware of Satan’s scheme as well, and explains to the angel Gabriel that Satan’s proposed temptations actually fit into a divine plan. Born of the virgin Mary, Jesus is meant to face Satan. Through virtues that appear to be signs of meekness and powerlessness, but in fact are signs of personal resolve, Jesus will overcome his foe. Once this explanation runs its course, the spirits that surround God break into song, confident that Jesus will emerge victorious.

For his part, Jesus is overcome with the intensity of his thoughts and wanders away from Betharaba, where he had been staying. He journeys into a desert. There, Jesus reflects on his past; in his younger years, he had energetically studied the prophets and had at times dreamed of raising Israel to new glory. Mary herself was aware of the heroic role her son would play as a descendant of David who would bring salvation, and whose role in a divine plan was signaled at his birth in Bethlehem and affirmed by the predictions of Simeon and Anna. Jesus himself is not sure where his life is leading, but is confident that God will offer the guidance needed.

Jesus passes forty days in the desert. He remains in complete isolation until he meets an old man; this inhabitant of the tough desert landscape knows of the recent baptism and asks Jesus to prove that he is the Son of God by producing nourishment in this wilderness. Yet, Jesus declares that God provides for those who need help and, in the course of his explanation, recognizes the old man as Satan in disguise. Satan admits that it is he, then recounts his history: having fallen out of God’s grace, he now moves among men and (he claims) feels admiration for what is good and virtuous rather than desire for further conflict and suffering. However, Jesus immediately declares that Satan is lying. Satan, in Jesus’s understanding, harms righteous men such as the biblical Job out of cruelty and malice. It is Jesus’s role to address Satan’s wily, devious reasoning and to correct the systems of false values and false beliefs Satan has propagated in the world.

In response, Satan insists that any damage he has inflicted on humanity was motivated by his own misery. He also states that he feels a desire to hear Jesus’s true and virtuous words, and Jesus dispassionately replies that he will not prevent Satan from interacting with him. Satan disappears as night falls on the desert.