Paradise

This was my second time reading Paradise Lost. The first time I read it, I found it incredibly hard to understand, and I finished it without having much comprehension of it or its meaning. This time, it seemed much easier, probably because I at least knew what I was getting myself into. Even though the language is some of the worst to try and understand, and the imagery can be confusing at times, it was one of my favorite things we read. There was so much symbolism, and so many references, and when you look past the hard-to-understand language, it tells an enjoyable, epic story.

What I really loved about it was how thoroughly it examined the idea of good and evil, as well as the term 'hero.' On the surface, one wouldn't assume that Satan could be considered anything even close to 'good,' and he certainly couldn't be the story's hero. If you put aside any outside connotations to the word, and look at it from a literary perspective, he absolutely could be. The poem focuses on Satan, and when things are looked at from his point of view, it changes everything. If you chose to look at the story from any of the other characters' perspectives, things would be entirely different, which just goes to show how important point of view is in literature.