John Milton’s epic poem, Paradise Lost, expands upon the Genesis narrative which describes Adam, Eve and the Fall of Man. Though modern literature categorizes Paradise Lost as fiction and the Bible as Christian mythology, to John Milton scripture was a living non-fiction text which served as the theological foundation of his writing. In writing his epic poem, Milton aimed to compose a full account of Christian cosmogony and the felix culpa, or fortunate Fall of Man; and in doing so the author/theologian creates a symbol of chaos unlike any in literature. The vernacular implications of “chaos” contain evil or neutral connotations, as the word is commonly associated with malevolent or meaningless states of utter confusion. Paradise Lost undoubtedly contains imagery which leads some critics to argue that Milton’s chaos is a realm of profane nothingness or ominous evil. However, when one examines these descriptions from a religious studies lens, the antithesis between chaos’s function and its representation becomes clear. The following study applies such scholarly religious theories on sacred disorder to Paradise Lost, thereby revealing the spiritual meaning of chaos in Milton’s literary cosmology. Though ostensibly opposed to that which is sacred and good, both physical and psychological chaos prove vital to Milton’s representation of theodicy, the Fall and salvation. By analyzing the religious role of disorder in Paradise Lost, this study demonstrates that chaos can be simultaneously different from the sacred experience, while still offering moral and spiritual orientation for fallen creatures.
