Matthew Newman

Professor Witherbee

English 3733

27 March 2012

A Hell of an Appeal: Aristotelian Philosophy in Milton’s Paradise Lost

Regardless of what the discussion pertains to, all arguments are instigated with the desire

to not only achieve the position of victor of the argument, but furthermore to influence those

whom which are being argued against that the position of which they are informed of is indeed

the correct and appropriate one, and that the argument is a matter of fact, and thus indisputably

correct. In order to command this type of argumentative, ideological authority over the minds of

the argument’s recipients, a certain amount of rhetorical skill is required, and moreover the

ability to employ the biologically common and natural inclinations of man’s mind is essential.

These inclinations to which the influencing of man is closely engaged to can be split up into

three separate means of persuasion, as outlined by Aristotelian philosophy, and commonly

known as Aristotle’s Appeals: Pathos, Logos, and Ethos.

Since this inclusion of the Appeals are so magnificently widespread that they can be seen

in nearly all works which pertain to humanity and the spirit of man, it is inevitable that John

Milton’s epic Paradise Lost, a work concerned with the very beginnings of mankind and earlier,

would also be concerned in these universal Appeals. As has been noted repeatedly by both

critics and scholars alike, Milton enamors Satan, Hell, and all of its inhabitants in a uniquely

different light than either have been presented in previously, and in Milton’s descriptions, both

the species of Hell and Hell itself are of a sublime magnitude, yet simultaneously they exhibit

positive (by the philosophical definition of the word) manifestations of the human experience,

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and furthermore they share the same inclinations towards the Appeals as seen in earthen

humanity. In Paradise Lost, Milton utilizes the characters and episodes of Hell, particularly

Moloch, Belial, Mammon, and Satan and their respective political campaigning in Book II, to

demonstrate the universal and existentially infinite presence of the Appeals and their differences;

additionally, Milton substantiates both his own thoughts concerning the hierarchy of the Appeals,

as well as the supremacy of the Appeals over physical power and prowess.

The political campaigning witnessed in Book II of Paradise Lost is a causal effect of

Hell’s inhabitant’s recent excommunicative removal from Heaven, and is aimed at developing

the appropriate response to their new, dismal existence, and what course of action the decided

response will require. Ignoring the fact that this political rally is taking place in Hell, and that its

participants are demonized angels, whom were all forcibly thrust from the throngs of Heaven by

God himself, this scene begins to display a particularly modern nature of communal discussion

and democratic, group analysis and evaluation. That expressed nature, coupled with the various

speeches of this rally, each of which harnesses the power of a uniquely personal, persuasive, and

politically charged rhetoric, allows this scene to further validate itself as an expression of

universality by expanding its relationship to contemporariness from simply a mere resemblance

of modern politics to a more elaborate, fundamentally similar representation of Western society.

By developing a connection between the hellacious political rally and modern politics

and society, Milton enables and compels Book II (and all of Paradise Lost, for that matter) to be

interpreted through the same universal lens that it establishes for itself. Thus, by presenting,

through the various arguments made, each of Aristotle’s Appeals as existent in Hell, evinced by

the orations of inhuman, unimaginable creatures, Milton is clearly aiming to construct and

support the idea that these Appeals not only encompass all of human nature, showcasing

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themselves particularly in Western society, but that they maintain a metaphysically innate value

which transcends humanity and humanity’s positive plane of existence.

Milton’s purpose in Book II is not satisfied, however, by merely establishing that there is

an abundance of interconnectedness as far as the politics of Hell and the modern world are

concerned; rather, this revelation is a required stepping stone that leads to the employment of a

more expansive interpretation of Milton’s thoughts as they pertain to the appeals. The manner in

which Milton presents the three different appeals, Pathos, Logos, and Ethos, from the order in

which they are presented, to the characterizations of the presenters, all combine to fortify a clear

understanding of Milton’s opinions on the subject. Therefore, it is evident that the positioning of

“Moloch, [the] Sceptr’d King” (43) as the initial speaker and clear instigator of a political

assembly serves to develop a claim on the appeal which his rhetoric expresses.

The appeal to which Moloch employs his efforts can begin to be identified by

deciphering the brief description of Moloch given by Milton prior to the commencement of his

political oration, an interpretation that allows itself to be utilized in the development of a distinct

characterization of Moloch. Milton reveals that Moloch, “the strongest and the fiercest Spirit/

That fought in Heav’n, now fiercer by despair” wishes to be “deem’d / Equal in strength” to

God, and if he cannot be elevated to such position, “rather than be less [he] / Car[es] not to be at

all” (46-48); instantly, Moloch is identified as a character indelibly fueled by fiery passion and

emotion—essential components of the Pathos appeal. Keeping in mind that Milton aims to

utilize the political stage presented as a platform on which to discuss and inform the reader of the

appeals’ significance, influence, and quality, Moloch is garnered as a representation of Pathos,

serving as a characterization of the appeal, and thus he acts as a key indicator of Milton’s

thoughts regarding Pathos. Therefore, by deploying Pathos as the first appeal utilized in the

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political rally, Milton affirmatively acknowledges that its use of emotion and passion can be both

effective and useful in the instigation of political movements and group persuasion. Yet despite

Milton’s subtle recognition that Pathos can contribute itself as an effective tool, useful for the

rallying-together of the congregation and inciting a communal discussion of action, the picture

he paints of Moloch’s character, one of passion as opposed to reason, to which action precedes

evaluation, reveals the tendency for Pathos to exhibit a simple, underdeveloped interpretation of

circumstances, and thus is the weakest and least useful of the three appeals. Milton’s conclusion

regarding Pathos as essentially weak and unfulfilling is cemented following Moloch’s peroration

when he internally acknowledges the ultimate futility of his Pathos appeal, and exhibits his

reaction externally and physically by “end[ing] frowning…his look denounc[ing] / Desperate

revenge” (106-107).

Since the order in which Milton relates the different appeals depicts a systematical

hierarchy, one that intelligibly establishes a gradation of power and usefulness, within which

each appeal has a specific and appropriate position, and resultantly a differentiated level of

deserved reverence and use, the following speech, performed by Belial, consequently then exists

in the hierarchal ladder directly supreme to Pathos. Once again, the initial description of the

speaker, given by Milton, indicates the specific appeal represented through the characterization

of Belial. As opposed to the Pathos-infused description of Moloch, Belial is first seen “in act

more graceful and humane” (109), indicating an air of calmness and reason, at least compared to

Moloch. Additionally, Milton connotes Belial’s advantageous abilities of rhetoric, a command

of language that requires an elevated level of thought, yet “though his Tongue/ Dropt Manna,

and could make the worse appear / The better reason…his thoughts were low” (112-115). The

resulting characterization, developed through the integration of Belial’s calmness, rhetorical

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ability, and implied intelligence, thus insinuate that he is the representative manifestation of the

appeal Logos, to which abled manipulation of logic and reason are essential.

Once affirmed that Belial indeed is emblematic of Logos, and noting that his character

verifiably illustrates the aspects of the appeal, Milton’s own thoughts regarding Logos can

clearly be inferred. By placing Logos a peg above Pathos in the chain of utilization, Milton is

implying that he regards Logos as more useful and applicable than Pathos, though since it still

remains below the yet unexamined appeal, Ethos, naturally then it must contain a flaw that bears

it some inclusion of discredit. The credential flaw possessed by Logos is revealed once again

through the descriptions of the speaker. Furthermore, by utilizing these descriptions to develop

an unambiguous characterization of Belial, then instituting it as a representation of Logos, the

aspect of the Logos that Milton believes is defective to its utilization, and consequently to its

resulting position within his hierarchy, is dishonesty. Belial’s “words cloth’d in reasons garb”

(226), while they may appear as an effective tool of persuasion, ultimately leave room for much

to be desired, and lack the essential presence of legitimacy required to be atop the developing

hierarchy.

While the next speaker, Mammon, and his rhetoric to the mass of Hell’s inhabitants are

both undeniably fundamental to the collective interpretation and literary appreciation of not only

Book II, but all of Paradise Lost, and therefore should not be overlooked when establishing a

general summation of the text, Mammon’s speech, as far as the thematic arguments of this article

are concerned, is less essential. Mammon’s words act as an amalgamation of the appeals

represented by the first two speakers, Moloch and Belial, and essentially reiterate what Milton

expressed through their respective characterizations and the resulting representations of Pathos

and Logos. Thus, in order to establish and maintain the coherency of the argument being made,

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Mammon’s coalescence of appeals can readily be dismissed as neither an essential

representation, nor a concise and definitively sound appeal that maintains a position upon

Milton’s hierarchy of appeals.

The next speaker of this strife-driven, political gathering in Hell, and the culminating

characterization-to-appeal-representation movement that is developed from the speech is,

appropriately, Beelzebub, “whom, / Satan except, none higher sat” (299-300). Though the

speech is in actuality verbalized by Beelzebub, the idea and plan expressed was “first devis’d /

By Satan.” Drawing from the fact that both Pathos and Logos have been sufficiently

represented, naturally the consensus can be formed that Beelzebub’s speech and his

characterization are both representations of Ethos, and moreover, that Ethos exists atop the

established hierarchy and is, in Milton’s opinion, the most useful and powerful of the three

appeals. To persuade by appealing to Ethos, a degree of credibility is required. Looking to the

expressed fact that Satan is commander-in-chief of Hell and its occupants, and thus, by

definition, possesses (at this point an unquantifiable level of) credibility, and that Beelzebub

ranks as Satan’s second in command, therefore is also endowed with a similar amount of

credibility, it becomes perspicuously uncontestable that the final speech, which is articulated

from a source of credibility, and yet devised by a source of even greater credibility, is

indubitably a representation of Ethos.

The plan articulated in Beelzebub’s speech is one of imminent danger, which:

“…none among the choice and prime

Of those Heav'n-warring Champions could be found

So hardie as to proffer or accept

Alone the dreadful voyage; till at last

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Satan, whom now transcendent glory rais'd

Above his fellows, with Monarchal pride

Conscious of highest worth, unmov'd thus spake.” (423-429)

Milton utilizes the above episode to further substantiate through the text the validity of an

assertion of credibility, and hence the presence of Ethos, by discrediting the other inhabitants of

Hell, who cowered from the “dreadful voyage.” Additionally, Milton further exalts Satan to an

unprecedented level of credibility, by Hell’s standards, by implanting one final speech, a

vocalization of Satan, by which he declares his intention to alone embark on “this enterprize /

[which] None shall partake with [him]” (465-466). The speaker of, the deviser of, and the lone

undertaking of such a plan collaborate to establish unquestionably that credibility plays a major

role in the final characterization of Ethos, affirming with finality its position at the top of

Milton’s hierarchy: an attestation that allows for the thematically essential claim to be

established that of all of Aristotle’s Appeals, Pathos, Logos, and Ethos, Milton considers Ethos

to be the most useful and effective.

Through a political rally of epic proportions, Milton establishes a perceivable

interconnectedness and applicable sense of universality, relating of the fundamental aspects of

this hellacious meeting and its devilish participants, with the modernized, world of earthly reality

and existence. Once established, Milton subtly expands his argument to encompass a much more

interesting claim. Through detailed characterizations of the various speakers, which develop to

represent the various appeals, Milton devises a system in which to arrange, by his own personal

opinion, all three of the Aristotelian Appeals into a convincing and well-supported hierarchy, one

which is representative of Pathos, Logos, and Ethos, and illustrates both their usefulness and

relationships to each other, in Hell and on Earth.

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Works Cited

Milton, John. "Book II." Paradise Lost. 1667. http://etext.virginia.edu. Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library. Web. 25 Mar. 2012.

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