Student Question
Which book of Paradise Lost is most important: I, II, IX, or XII?
Quick answer:
Book I is arguably the most significant of the four important books listed. It sets the scene, hurtles us almost immediately into dramatic action, includes some of the most quoted lines in the whole epic, and introduces us to one of the most powerful antagonists in all of literature in the form of Satan.
An answer as to which Book in Milton's epic poem is the most important is going to be a matter of opinion. All of them are equally important and it's hard to make a case for one being more valuable than another. However, since substantiated opinion seems to be the only way to go on this one, I think that Book I is the essential because it establishes so many elements of the work. The exposition of the first book opens in media res, in the middle of the action. Milton uses the first book in order to “justify the ways of God to men" and helps to establish the emotional disposition that end up framing the narrative. This becomes another reason why Book I can be seen as the most important one in the epic poem.
Book I is also important because of its introduction to Satan. Book I...
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helps to establish that the battle between Satan and God has been ongoing for some time. Book I is also important because it helps to establish thecharacterization of Satan, himself. It becomes clear that Satan is the way he is because of his refusal to submit to the will of God. Satan's unwillingness to accept the rule of God is established in the first book, something that continues throughout the epic poem:
For who can yet believe, though after loss,
That all these puissant legions whose exile
Hath emptied Heav'n shall fail to re-ascend,
Self-raised, and repossess their native seat?
Book I is important because it reveals how Satan's sole pleasure exists in his desire to destroy. It is Milton's genius to show that malevolence and evil exist when there is no creative force to bind it. Satan is shown in Book I to simply focus on "eternal war" against the divine. The characterization offered in Book I suggests that Satan has nothing but disdain for God: "Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven." This characterization is established in Book I, from which all other action originates. The idea of Satan never wishing to yield to God helps to guide the entire epic poem and is first introduced in Book I, helping to make this book one of the most important, if not the most important, in Milton's work.
Which book in Paradise Lost (I, II, IX, XII) is most significant and why?
The four books listed are arguably the four most important books in Paradise Lost, and any of them could well be chosen as the most significant. Books I and II open in medias res with Satan and the fallen angels dramatically awakening in hell after being defeated by God. Book IX is the dramatic climax of the story in which Satan successfully tempts Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. Book XII is the high point of the ending denouement as Adam and Eve leave paradise and God lays out his plan to vanquish Satan, while Adam has finally learned the lesson of obedience to God before all else.
Given this choice, I would chose book I as the most significant. This is because it sets the whole epic into motion and offers the most compelling possible vision in all of literature of a fatally flawed Satan as a worthy foe for God. First chapters are often very important, and this is no exception.
Book I begins by laying out the subject of the epic poem, ending with the promise that it will "justifie the wayes of God to men." From line 45 on, the action starts, as Satan and his minions are hurled headfirst "flaming from th' Ethereal Skie" to hell. Satan, the opponent who will clash with God, is unvanquished despite his recent defeat and describes himself as an undaunted fierce rival, saying:
What though the field be lost?
All is not lost; the unconquerable Will,
And study of revenge, immortal hate,
And courage never to submit or yield:
And what is else not to be overcome?
We then are thrown into the middle of gripping action as we witness Satan break his chains and rise from his pool of fire and brimstone:
Forthwith upright he rears from off the Pool
His mighty Stature; on each hand the flames
Drivn backward slope thir pointing spires, and rowld
In billows, leave i'th' midst a horrid Vale.
He then unfurls his huge wings and flies. He states defiantly that although he is in hell:
The mind is in it own place and in it self
Can make a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell of Heav'n.
Satan also argues that it is "Better to reign in Hell, then serve in Heaven." The drama continues to move and build without stopping, as Satan gathers his minions around him. They immediately build Pandemonium, a parody of God's celestial city, and begin to plot their next actions.
The powerful and compelling character of Satan as outlined in this book has long captured the imagination of readers, with the Romantic poets in particular seeing Satan as the true hero of the poem. Whatever the case, with its rich description, unforgettable—and much quoted—antagonist, and non-stop action, this is a book that pulls us into the rest of the epic.