An Unexpected Mash-up

Okay, let’s talk about Paradise Lost Book 1 because WOW. I had a really really hard time with the 16th century literature it was not my jam mostly because I felt like a dog searching for a squirrel I had no clue what was happening. Paradise Lost though, this was some vivid imagery and it all clicked. However, I think the only reason I am really understanding this is because of all the Sundays my parents sent me to Catholic Sunday school. My question is, how do readers who aren’t familiar with biblical references get a full understanding of this story? I can take a stab at answering this but I would love to hear how other people took this book with out having that background information. I think the images here were clear for me because I had the images from the Bible, but they took a funky new turn like I was watching a Harry Potter Movie. Okay no, let me correct that. Reading Paradise lost felt like I was watching a film where Billie Eilish was narrating and sining the original bible from the side of hell, Percy Jackson was swinging his sword around, and the epic battles were straight out of The Last Kingdom. That was a mouth full I know. Also, the fallen devil angels reminded me of the dark angels from Wizards of Waverley Place, remember when Justin falls for that blonde one who isn’t a real angel she’s the dark angel. That was the first time I ever felt betrayed by a character not going to lie. Hahaha, okay sorry for the Disney Channel reference but that was what was playing in my brain when reading this.

This Billie Eilish song and video very much reminds me of the first scene where the Angel’s fall from Heaven to Hell. I remember taking a class at UNH on British Literature and my professor was obsessed with Billie Eilish, yes, my suit wearing, sixty-five year old professor would bump to Billie, I can not even tell you how many hours we spent just watching her music videos ahaha. Anywho, this video was productive because it aided our understanding of a visual depiction of the underworld or better known hell. This song is challenging that hell is on earth just as much as it is after death which I think is one of the prominent themes through this book. It felt like a constant struggle for power but the devil uses fear as it’s driving force where God or divine power uses hope. We see literature talk about these two driving forces for power, look at the Hunger Games for instance. This theme hasn’t gone anywhere, it has just evolved for the common reader to enjoy it better. There was one factor that really caught my attention though, mankind, we humans, aren’t the ones in power in this story. We are simply pawns or the embodiment of sin or faith. Humans are the ones who carry out the actions we are called to do, may that be a call from the devil himself and his followers or from God and his angels. It is an interesting concept that good and bad are both depicted as human, or souls. Also thought provoking that both all powerful images are male. I wonder what God and the Devil would look like as women.