Constructing Miltonic Interiority: Adam, Satan, and Conscience in Paradise Lost

Abstract

abstract:Milton's Satan has more private speeches than any other character in Paradise Lost and displays a complex interiority, especially in his longest soliloquy, an anguish of conscience at the opening of book 4. But Milton also exhibits the interior of fallen Adam in book 10 through a soliloquy of despairing conscience that is resonant with Satan's earlier conscience-inflicted speech. The similarities between the interiors of Adam and Satan are deliberate and potent, yet the differences are also significant, in ways that denigrate Satan, elevate Adam (and Eve), and reveal a spectrum of consciences in Paradise Lost. This article argues that Milton had much to say about interiority, particularly through the inner faculty of conscience, which he exhibits in his epic across a wide range of characters and scenarios, from angels to human beings, and from guilt and despair to divine consolation.