Paradise Lost Main Characters

Paradise Lost Main Characters

1. Satan

   • Head of the rebellious angels who have just fallen from Heaven. As the poem’s antagonist, Satan is the originator of sin—the first to be ungrateful for God the Father’s blessings. He embarks on a mission to Earth that eventually leads to the fall of Adam and Eve, but also worsens his eternal punishment. His character changes throughout the poem. Satan often appears to speak rationally and persuasively, but later in the poem we see the inconsistency and irrationality of his thoughts. He can assume any form, adopting both glorious and humble shapes.

2. Adam

   • The first human, the father of our race, and, along with his wife Eve, the caretaker of the Garden of Eden. Adam is grateful and obedient to God, but falls from grace when Eve convinces him to join her in the sin of eating from the Tree of Knowledge.

3. Eve

   • The first woman and the mother of mankind. Eve was made from a rib taken from Adam’s side. Because she was made from Adam and for Adam, she is subservient to him. She is also weaker than Adam, so Satan focuses his powers of temptation on her. He succeeds in getting her to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree despite God’s command.

4. God the Father

   • One part of the Christian Trinity. God the Father creates the world by means of God the Son, creating Adam and Eve last. He foresees the fall of mankind through them. He does not prevent their fall, in order to preserve their free will, but he does allow his Son to atone for their sins.

5. God the Son

   • Jesus Christ, the second part of the Trinity. He delivers the fatal blow to Satan’s forces, sending them down into Hell, before the creation of Earth. When the fall of man is predicted, He offers himself as a sacrifice to pay for the sins of mankind, so that God the Father can be both just and merciful.