Words, Words, and More Words

I'll admit, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with this reading. There is so much to unpack, and at the same time, I don't know where to start or even what there is to unpack. My guess (and hope) is that I'm not alone.

The first thing that I will say is reading The Argument before actually starting the poem was super helpful. I at least have a good sense of the plot thus far and where it is heading. We basically start with Satan in hell with all his crew after they have just been kicked out of heaven. Milton seems to believe that this fall took place before the creation of man and the rest of the earth. As far as I'm aware, there isn't really any evidence to support if his timeline is right. There also isn't evidence to support it being wrong. So my first question is this. Did Milton come up with this timeline himself? Or was he influenced by the beliefs of the church at the time? I am wondering if this understanding of the fall of Lucifer comes from Milton, kind of like how a lot of people's understanding of hell comes from Dante.

If I had to pick a passage that I was interested in the most, it would be lines 162-165. "If then His providence/Out of our evil seek to bring forth good/Our labor must be to pervert that end/And out of good still to find means of evil". This is part of Satan's response to a demon who basically says "What are we going to do now"? Not only is this piece of the response easier to understand, it also has some sinister connotations. The word "pervert" is a fascinating word choice. While we now usually associate the word with something sexual, Milton uses it in a way that is so much more. Synonyms include, but are not limited to: distort, corrupt, subvert, twist, bend, abuse, misapply, misuse, misrepresent, misinterpret, and falsify. (Thank you, Google). This one little word implies so much about Satan's intentions in this poem.

Another thing I noticed about this poem was how much I was reminded of The Screwtape Letters. Writing from or about the perspective of the darker side of a story is a common thread in these two pieces of literature. Another common thread is the focus of the demons on getting back at God through the downfall of mankind.

I'm apprehensive yet excited to keep reading. Intuition tells me that like the previous works we've read, it will be worth stumbling my way through if only to come out the other side.