It would have been better if
Milton had contented himself with telling the story of the Satanic
insurrection, of its suppression, of its author's revenge, of the
expulsion from Paradise, and the promise of a Redeemer. But he wanted
to "justify the ways of God to man," and in order to do this he thought
it was necessary to show that man must be endowed with freedom of will,
and consequently could not be directly preserved from yielding to the
assaults of Satan.
Paradise Regained comes, perhaps, closer to us than Paradise Lost
because its temptations are more nearly our own, and every amplification
which Milton introduces is designed to make them more completely ours
than they seem to be in the New Testament. It has often been urged
against Paradise Regained that Jesus recovered Paradise for man by the
Atonement and not merely by resistance to the devil's wiles, but
inasmuch as Paradise was lost by the devil's triumph through human
weakness it is natural that Paradise Regained should present the triumph
of the Redeemer's strength.
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