Introduction
John Milton’s Paradise Lost, gives a different perspective on what Satan went through during the time of his banishment to Hell. Throughout the work, Satan is posed as an evil being that birthed death and sin itself while constructing themes of self doubt abandonment, but from a Postmodernist standpoint, Satan can be viewed as a misunderstood and lost
angel who simply acts out to achieve what he believes is best for himself and God’s other creations. Within the fragmentation, intertextuality, and rejection of grand narratives, Milton believes his audience will find a different perspective of Satan, and not just take him for the epitome of evil that is taught throughout most Christian religions.
Element 1: Fragmentation
Fragmentation, is a very diverse and important characteristic found within many Postmodernist works. Fragmentation is known as the disintegration of classic narrative structures and focuses on a much more incomplete and scattered approach to narration, often confusing the reader while providing multiple perspectives.
Links to Fragmentation
Fragmentation plays a relatively big role in John Milton's Paradise Lost, despite the fact that the Epic is not a Postmodernist piece. Many times throughout understanding Satan's thoughts, the voice of Adam or even God can be heard without warning, which plays a huge part in disrupting the steady pace and forcing the reader to break down multiple perspectives. Many times throughout Paradise Lost, Milton takes an approach of describing the physical and mental state of Satan. Milton states that "The mind is its own place, and in it self Can make a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell of Heav'n." when referring to Satan's failed rebellions attack on God's kingdom (Milton 1. 254-255). The quote fragments the inner thoughts of Satan after defeat, with what he speaks to his army of rebels, forcing the audience themselves to decide whether the Devil is upset with the loss or happy with the fact that he is the new ruler of Hell.
Link to Postmodern Media Source
The Postmodern Media Source I used to compare the fragmentation in Paradise Lost, was a song titled "Semantics" by rapper, producer, and song writer Nnamdi.
Find the video of that song here:
The fragmentation Nnamdi uses in the 8th track of his album titled "Brat" dives into the complex nature of human emotions and relationships. His fragmented lyrics and presentation of his music creates a conflicting boundary between relationships with others that are real, and relationships that are fake and have no real love or motivation behind them.
Although the fragmentation is used in different context, a postmodernist (like myself now) can easily point out how this sort of Fragmentation is showcased in John Milton's Paradise Lost based Satan's relationship and feelings towards himself, which can heavily contradict the way he feels and acts towards others such as God, Adam, Eve, and other rebel angels despite how he may speak to and approach them.
Element 2: Intertextuality
Intertextuality found within postmodernist works, can be described as the way texts or media are connected and or influenced by other texts and media, eliminating complete isolation of one's postmodernistic work.
Here is a list of the best parody movies of all time! : https://www.imdb.com/list/ls008396541/
Yes, super dumb parody movies that are corny and cheesy on purpose, are very good examples of postmodern intertexuality.
Let us get back on topic.
Links to Intertextuality
As parodies and other media change-ups were unheard of at the time, John Milton didn't likely use Intertextuality in Paradise Lost on purpose, but besides that, it does play a part in the reading of the epic and can change the way one views Satan as a being, and Christianity as a whole. Satan doesn't understand God's morals (obviously) and this becomes apparent very early in the text when the Devil states "OF Mans First Disobedience, and the Fruit of that Forbidden Tree" which directly references the first sin ever caused by Satan when Eve ate an apple from the Tree of Knowledge in Genesis (Milton 1. 1-2). This use of intertextuality highlights Satan's strong opinion of God and how he disagrees with
the creators ideals.
Really, you can't hate this guy for having an opinion, and it does make you think. If God truly wanted the best for all of his creations, why would he keep them clueless to the knowledge that the world has to offer?
Link to Postmodern Media Source
The postmodern media source I found strongly resembles intertextuality is Tenacious D's music video to their song "Tribute"
Tenacious D, composed of Jack Black and Kyle Gass, take the viewer on an epic adventure in their music video to "Tribute" where they reminisce over the time they ran into the devil and sang him "the greatest Song in the world" so their souls would not be eaten. Unfortunately, the rock duo is unable to remember the song they wrote, so they sing this one as a tribute (hints the name). It is completely ridiculous and is super comical, but it also represents lots of intertextuality.
The duo uses very loud sounds, terrible CGI, bright lights, and an extremely over exaggerated guitar to parody old school rock bands that were very popular before the time of Tenacious D. The parodying and poking fun at past talents that are clearly better from a musical stand point, reflects the intertextuality used in Paradise Lost as Satan's use of referencing past events of God, poke fun at and highlight the Devil's strong emotion to the creators beliefs without saying it specifically, just using heavy satire.
Element 3: Rejection of Grand Narratives
The rejection of grand narratives, is really as simple as it sounds for how complex and deep it can get. The rejection of grand narratives refers to the rejection of ideas or beliefs that were put in place by a higher power or are naturally agreed upon by most.
Links to the Rejection of Grand Narratives
Satan's whole entire personality within the media and pop culture is being THE rejection of grand narratives, those narratives being the rules and creations God put on the Earth. Milton does a great job of expressing this feature of Satan as most of Paradise Lost itself is Satan disagreeing with the rules and beliefs that God has put in place at the beginning of the Earth and really the universe as a whole. Satan's rejection and frustration with God is clear when he states "Better to reign in Hell, then serve in Heav'n" which completely contradicts the grand narrative that Heaven is a great, holy, place and Hell is torture (Milton 1. 263). Why would anybody want to be in Hell if it's torture? From a postmodernist standpoint, Hell really can't be THAT bad if Satan would rather be there than in perfection. This also bring the idea that Heaven may not really be THAT great, because if it was Satan would have zero issues with it.
Link to Postmodern Media Source
The postmodern media source I chose to represent the rejection of grand narratives is a short story titled "Decortication of an Airplane" by Ry Book Suraski. The story is very strange, with no true meaning, characters, or plot. It is a story in which the readers must make for themselves using the multiple moving parts within the text.
Find the short story here: https://pankmagazine.com/piece/decortication-of-an-airplane/
That being said, from what can be 💯% interpreted within the text, rejects many grand narratives as even if it is understandable, it has no real truth. This short story's way of rejecting grand narratives is by ignoring everything the reader knows about understanding text and embraces complexity and confusion. This can be compared to Paradise Lost as Satan's new way of seeing Heaven and Hell were completely unheard of, yet taking a new approach and seeing his situation from a different perspective, makes one reason with the Devil and understand why he might like the idea of Hell more than Heaven.
Conclusion
Finally, we made it to the end. Before I finish this up I want to thank all of y'all for taking time and tuning into this presentation, and I thank you all for the memories that I will cherish as I go into college, You will all be deeply missed.
That being said, for how old John Milton's Paradise Lost is, it has held up greatly when being compared to relatively new ideas such as postmodernism. Even though Milton did not intend for readers to see his work from a postmodernist mindset, there are still extremely strong elements of Fragmentation, intertextuality, and rejection of grand narratives. One thing I found quite strange was how easy it was to compare postmodernist media sources such as "Semantics," "Tribute," and "Decortication of an Airplane" as they are all so much newer and realistically have no reason for being this relatable to such an old work like Paradise Lost. This was very interesting I hope the rest of you see how astonishing it is that this much randomness can all become intertwined.
Works Cited: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1d3kmgdA4jUKYuvj4JO2K6aqrLaryRwND330kMlGZdWM/edit?usp=sharing
I really like the links this person made to rejection and fragmentation, especially with Satan and the rejection he felt, being turned away an all. The way this author wrote makes you feel what Satan felt and gives almost a sense of pity for him. I think this post has a good balance between goofiness and seriousness, and the links between "Tenacious D", and "Paradise Lost" are pretty hidden, but once this author highlighted them, you can really see the clear perspective.