A Comparison between the Depiction of Religion in
Milton’s Paradise Lost and Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses

von: Mathias Holzer

Contents

Preface  p.3

1. Structural Analysis p.3

1.1 The Title p.3

1.1.1 Paradise Lost p.3
1.1.2 The Satanic Verses p.4

1.2 Genre and Point of View  p.4

1.2.1 Paradise Lost p.4
1.2.2 The Satanic Verses p.7

2. The Setting  p.8

2.1 Paradise Lost p.8

2.1.1 Hell p.8
2.1.2 Heaven p.9
2.1.3 Paradise p.10
2.1.4 Paradise of Fools p.10

2.2 The Satanic Verses p.11

3. The Depiction of Religion in Paradise Lost and The Satanic Verses p.12

3.1 Genesis and the Theme of the Fall  p.12
3.2 The Satan in Disguise p.13
3.3 The Deconstruction of Oppositions between Good and Evil  p.14
3.4 Blasphemy and Anti-dogmatism  p.16

Short Overview  p.17

Closing Remarks p.18

Preface

Since the beginning of all civilization people are wondering how the human race could have been created. Already the most primitive tribes, many a thousand years ago, were worshipping numerous gods and spiritual entities, which they pleaded for food, one’s individual health, or maybe forgiveness after one died. Over the centuries, institutions, that provided instructions how to please the almighty creator best, came into being and were defended against doubt and disbelieve. From these institutions today’s three major religions Christianity, Islam and Judaism derived, beside a countless number of minor religions and sects. Each religion vindicated its own interpretation of the Creation and tolerated no opposition or blasphemy. Nonetheless, harsh criticism was often aimed at both Holy Scriptures, the Bible and the Qu’ran.

John Milton’s Paradise Lost and Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses are both describing events about the founding of a religion: the former has rewritten Genesis, the first part of the Bible where the creation of the earth is described; the latter refers to the founding of Islam, when the prophet Mohammad received the holy verses of the Qu’ran. It is not surprising that both authors, Milton as well as Rushdie, are not simply retelling the ancient scriptures, in fact, they are stating their own views on religious issues, not keeping to the official dogmas. I want to show in which way religious images and Christian creed by Milton, Islamic creed by Rushdie, are presented and demonstrate similarities in the depiction of religion, despite more than 300 years lying between the publication of the two writings.

1. Structural Analysis

1.1 The Title

1.1.1 Paradise Lost

Primarily, Milton called his epic Paradise Lost because this already implies the central theme of the epic poem: the loss of paradise, but in a twofold manner. Adam and Eve are forced out of Eden, whereas Satan is expelled from heaven. Either paradise is lost forever and nothing can bring it back, but at least human kind will wonder how to regain it. „The loss of a supposed paradise can be used both to describe our present position in an imperfect world and to produce guidelines for behaviour which might get it back.”1 Weston calls paradise an imaginative one with its absence as its most obvious quality. Milton illustrates that already with the title and makes the reader expect to learn how it was lost.

1.1.2 The Satanic Verses

[...]

1 Weston p.19