Barclay 1

Chris Barclay

Dr. Holt

AP English Literature and Composition

8 December 2017

Deign to Create: A Word Study on the Concept of Descent in Book 7 of Miltons Paradise Lost

In this essay, I will attempt to demonstrate both that Milton uses the literal and figurative Commented [1]: maybe don't use first person

concepts of descent to prove that moral degeneration and the fated tragedy in Paradise Lost is

necessary in the creation of a new and quintessentially pure heaven, and the idea that the

structure of the text itself embodies the concept of descent to prove a truth about the nature of Commented [2]: I like that you used the single word in
the first paragraph, but didn't say that was the word you
chose
storytelling.
Commented [3]: I really like this paragraph and how
you stated directly what you were going to do
Before diving head first into the text, we must obtain helpful background information

about the words and concepts we wish to discuss. The word descent comes from the prefix de

(indicating a downwards direction, or undoing/reversing the action of a verb) and the word

scandere (meaning: to climb.) The Oxford English Dictionary defines the word descent in
the following ways: to come or go down, fall, sink; to come down ideally, mentally, or morally;
to condescend, stoop; to be derived in the way of generation; to come of or spring from
Commented [4]: I have fallen into the "The Oxford
Dictionary Defines..." trap many times. It's very nitpicky
of me, but maybe change the wording a Little. Perhaps
something like "The generally accepted definition of
'descent' is..."

(Descent 1). The synonymous word fall is defined similarly: to drop down from a high or Commented [5]: Not sure if this was in the
assignment, but I liked that you used a synonym
relatively high position, by the force of gravity; a descent from high estate or from moral

elevation; a sinking to a lower level; a succumbing to temptation, or a lapse into sin or folly;

what befalls or happens to a person; (of a countenance) to lose animation, or assume an

expression of dismay or disappointment; to lose the erect position (as opposed to standing); to

come as a burden or duty; to come naturally, without forcing or effort (Fall 1). The word Commented [6]: maybe not write all of the definitions,
it seems too long. try and just pick the important ones,
or the ones that stand out
deign is defined: to think it worthy of oneself; to think fit, vouchsafe, condescend. And
 Barclay 2

lastly, the word befall is defined: to fall; to pertain/belong to; to happen or occur; to become

as it were by chance. One observes that the notions of fate, predetermination, moral/physical

decline, and stooping beneath oneself are inherent with the concept of descent in formal

definition.

It is also helpful to discuss the recursivity nested within the narrative structure of

Paradise Lost (e.g. Milton invokes Urania to describe what Raphael tells Adam about what God

said to Jesus.) Often, the speaker will ask a figure of authority to deign to descend down to

their level in order to tell a story. For instance, Milton asks Urania to descend from heaven

(line 1) in order to aid Milton in telling this story lest Milton fall[s,]/ Erroneous there to wander

and forlorn. In this case, Milton simultaneously asks Urania to literally descend from her

aetherial place and aid him while asking her to figuratively descend to his level. Similarly, Adam

beseeches Raphael to deign to descend now lower, and relate what may no less perhaps avail us

known (84-5). We can infer that even God both literally and figuratively descends down Commented [7]: really good use of quotes and
explaining how they fit into what you are talking about
beneath his stature in order to create (and view the creation of) humans when Milton describes Commented [8]: I concur

how Open, and henceforth oft; . . . God will deign/To visit oft the dwellings of just

men/Delighted (569-71).

There is strong evidence to suggest that descent is, in fact, a necessary component of

creation. In explaining his reason for deigning down to Adam and relating the history of creation,

Raphael states that what thou [Adam] canst attain, . . . may serve/To glorify the maker, and

infer/Thee also happier, shall not be withheld (115-8.) And again, Raphael indicates that Gods

wisdom had ordained/Good out of evil to create, instead/Of spirits malign a better race to

bring/Into their vacant room, and thence diffuse/His good to worlds and ages infinite (187-91).
 Barclay 3

It is no mistake that Milton uses words such as rise1, ascend2, sprung3, upsprung4, and

upheaved5 to express the way creations came to be. Light itself, described as the first of Commented [9]: I like that you put in the antonyms

things and quintessence pure,6 had to have sprung from the deep, suggesting that creation

necessitates a state of descent from which to originate. Further, since the word descent denotes Commented [10]: Love this

an origination or generation, we must consider Miltons usage of the word as a form of creation

within itself. This is seen directly when Raphael advises Adam to acknowledge whence Commented [11]: Really interesting point and I liked
how you tied it into the essay
[human] good/Descends, thither with heart and voice and eyes/Directed in devotion, to

adore/And worship God supreme, who made him chief/Of all his works (512-6).

All of these principles begin to culminate together when Raphael mentions that before

creating the world, God said: To act or not, necessity and chance/Approach not me, and what I

will is fate (172-3). These two lines suggest the powerful notion that it was Gods plan all along

for Lucifer to fall from Heaven, for Heaven to be dispeopled, for Raphael to deign to Adam, for

the tragedy of Adam and Eve to occur, and for a second Heaven to be created. The entirety of the

text takes on a feeling of predetermination. At the end of Book 7, Raphael finally states his

[Lucifers] evil/Thou [God] usest, and from thence creatst more good (615-6).

These factors, when considered together, reveal the plausibility that Paradise Lost

suggests that moral descent and tragedy is necessary in the creation of Earth as a second heaven.

The idea is not new, and relates directly to the notion of felix culpa; the view that the sin of

1
Lines 322-324: . . . and the humble shrub,/ And bush with frizzled hair implicit: last/ Rose as in dance
the stately trees, and spread their branches hung with copious fruit. . .
2
Lines 282-7: . . . God said/. . . let dry land appear. Immediately the mountains huge appear/ Emergent,
and . . . their tops ascend the sky.
3
Lines 243-5: Let there be light, said God, and forthwith light/ Ethereal, first of things, quintessence pure,
sprung from the deep . . . in a cloudy tabernacle/ Sojourned the while.
4
Lines 462-3: . . . and in broad herds upspring. The grassy clods now calved. . .
5
Lines 470-4: scarce from his mould/Behemoth biggest born of earth upheaved/ His vastness: fleeced
the flocks and bleating rose,/ As plants: ambiguous between sea and land/The river horse and scaly
crocodile.
6
Note 6, sub.
 Barclay 4

Adam was both intentional and blessed, as it brought about the Redemption. However, the way

of introducing this notion into the text demonstrates just how deep and capacious Paradise Lost

can be. The nonlinearity of the narrative itself embodies the concept of descent through its Commented [12]: I also love this

invocations backwards in time in order to tell the story as it unravelled forwards in time. In a

way, Paradise Lost tells us about the creation of narrative as much as it does the creation of

earth. The prefix of de can be considered not only for its direction, but for its meaning of

reversal7 of the action of a verb. Looking at Paradise Lost through this lens, certain scenes

inhabit a new meaning, such as when God says . . . lest his heart exalt him in the harm/Already

done, to have dispeopled heaven/My damage fondly deemed, I can repair/That detriment, if such

it be to lose/Self-lost (150-4). In effect, by telling the story of sin as descent in this way, Milton

describes how the reversal of descent can make mankind more moral and stretches the depth of

how a text can be interpreted. Commented [13]: This was really good! I really liked it!

Works Cited:

Milton, John, Stephen Orgel, and Jonathan Goldberg. The major works. Oxford: Oxford

University Press, 2003. Print.

"Descent." The Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. 1989. OED Online.

www.oed.com/view/Entry/?redirectedFrom=Descent#eid. Accessed 6 December 2017.

"Fall." The Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. 1989. OED Online.

www.oed.com/view/Entry/?redirectedFrom=Fall#eid. Accessed 6 December 2017.

7
From the Oxford English Dictionary: In Latin, de had also the function of undoing or reversing the action
of a verb, e.g. armare to arm, de-armare to disarm.
 Barclay 5

"Befall." The Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. 1989. OED Online.

www.oed.com/view/Entry/?redirectedFrom=Befall#eid. Accessed 6 December 2017.

 Barclay 6

To-Do List:

1. Write a wicked good paper w/ appropriate MLA format

2. Citations

3. Put it on the website, utilyze the website and scrap the MLA format

4. Write a cover-letter for the paper

Task:

1. 3-4 page paper

2. Argues the significance of the word as it relates to the specific and central issues
a. What are the specific and central issues?
3. Select word demonstrating multiplicity AND captures bigger picture work Milton tries to
achieve
4. Convince adult that word is significant, has multiple meanings, and relates to the
specific, central issues of PL
5. Structure an argument!
a. Think of what people may say to refute your argument and squash it!

Outline:

1. Introduction
a. Ethos: common ground (to descend both connotes to literal fall and descent
morally)
b. Synopsis of Paradise Lost through the lens of the Fall of Man
c. Define word
d. Etymology
i. Denotation: to trip and fall, to descend from Heaven, to literally deign
ii. Connotation: to fall from grace, lest the like befalls in the world (2nd
heaven)
e. Holy fuck I need a thesis: Milton uses both the literal and figurative concepts of
descent to connote that moral degradation and the fated transpiration of tragedy
in Paradise Lost is necessary in the creation of a new and quintessentially pure
heaven.
2.
Barclay 7
Barclay 8