Character analysis
Death
in Paradise Lost by John Milton
Death is a symbolic figure in John Milton's Paradise Lost, introduced in Book II as the monstrous child of Satan and Sin. Rather than being a character with depth, he embodies pure, insatiable hunger—a "shape" lacking a clear form, armed with a "dart" and wearing a shadow that resembles a royal crown. When Satan first encounters Death at Hell's gates, they nearly engage in a violent confrontation, with Death threatening to strike Satan down until Sin steps in to reveal their family connection. This moment establishes Death as a terrifying force of indiscriminate destruction, held back only by their kinship and, ultimately, divine will.
Death's journey is closely linked to humanity's Fall. After Satan successfully tempts Eve and Adam, Sin and Death are allowed to leave Hell; together, they build a vast causeway—the "Bridge" across Chaos—that connects Hell to the newly tainted world. This significant act of world-building signifies Death's expanding control over Creation. God the Father, watching from Heaven, allows this invasion, recognizing that Death will act as an instrument of divine justice and will ultimately be defeated at the end of time by the Son.
Key traits include an insatiable, indiscriminate hunger (he consumes everything), shapelessness (representing the formlessness of non-being), and a grim mockery of kingship. Thematically, Death represents the ultimate consequence of disobedience, making his existence a warning woven into the poem's moral framework.
Connected characters
- Satan
Satan is Death's father, having violated Sin to produce him. Their first meeting in Book II is a near-fatal confrontation—Death raises his dart against Satan—before Sin reveals the truth of their kinship. Satan subsequently manipulates Death with promises of souls to devour once humanity falls, making Death an unwitting instrument of his scheme.
- Sin
Sin is Death's mother, born from Satan's head and then violated by Satan to conceive Death. Sin acts as the mediator between Satan and Death at Hell's gates, preventing their combat and revealing their shared origin. Together, Sin and Death construct the causeway across Chaos after the Fall, operating as a grotesque family unit embodying the wages of transgression.
- God the Father
God the Father permits Death's entry into the world as a consequence of Adam and Eve's disobedience, observing from Heaven that Death will serve divine justice. Crucially, God also decrees that Death himself will ultimately be destroyed—'the last enemy'—ensuring that Death's reign is temporary and subordinate to divine will.
- The Son (Christ)
The Son is prophesied to defeat Death at the end of time, 'swallowing' Death in final victory. This eschatological promise, announced by God the Father in Book X, frames Death's entire existence as provisional—he is a consequence of the Fall that the Son's redemptive sacrifice will ultimately annul.
- Adam
Adam's disobedience in eating the forbidden fruit directly enables Death's entry into the world. Death gains dominion over humanity through Adam's sin, making Adam the proximate human cause of Death's expanded power across Creation.
- Eve
Eve's act of eating the fruit first initiates the chain of events that unleashes Death upon humankind. Like Adam, Eve is both victim and, through her transgression, the occasion for Death's triumph over mortal life.