Paradise Lost Rhetorical Analysis

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John Milton’s Paradise Lost describes Hell as social, bearable, and escapable. First, Milton makes Hell social. In Book II, all of Heaven’s fallen angels hold a meeting. The audience is so big, Milton compares their cheering to “the sound of blust’ring winds, which all night long Had rous’d the sea” (II.286-7). This social “Hell” expressly opposes Biblical truth. Biblically, Hell separates people from God and therefore all goodness. Companionship, rather than loneliness, is goodness. Thus Milton makes his first theological error. Milton makes his second error when he describes Hell as bearable. At one point, Mammon tries to convince the other demons that living in Hell would not be that bad.
[It would be better to] Live to ourselves, though