Defense of the Allegory of Sin and Death in Paradise LostMilton claims that his epic poem Paradise Lost exceeds the work of his accomplished predecessors. He says he is tackling the most difficult task of telling the story not of a single hero, but of the entire human race. However, he does not seem to follow the conventional rules of an epic when he introduces allegory in Paradise Lost through his depiction of sin and death in Book II. Some readers denounce his work for this inconsistency, but others justify his action and discover extremely important symbolism from this "forbidden" literal device. Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary defines an epic "a long narrative poem in elevated style recounting the deeds of a legendary or legendary personage." historical hero" ("epic", def. 1) and allegory as "the expression by means of symbolic fictional figures and actions of truths or generalizations about human existence" ("allegory", def. 1 ). Based on these definitions, it is unclear whether the allegories fit into a true epic. From one point of view, such extensive symbolism is not appropriate because it relies on "fictional characters" whereas an epic is based on a "historical hero." For this reason, some readers may dislike Milton's extensive symbolism of sin and death, because it violates the traditional form of the epic. However, from another point of view, an allegory is an acceptable literary component of an epic because it is considered an element of "high style". Therefore, other readers may not see anything wrong with Milton's literary decision. Milton's poetic license allows him to write as he pleases and therefore justifies his adaptation of an allegory in his epic. It is clearly evident that Milton recognizes this privilege when... middle of paper ......ilton relies heavily on the Bible for much of his information. Keeping in mind Milton's timeline and era of writing Paradise Lost, we can justify his choice to incorporate an allegory into his epic. Allegories present meanings on two levels, one literal and the other hidden, which often express a moral or idea produced by the author. With this in mind, allegory is essential to understanding many parts of Paradise since Milton addresses many issues in this one scene. In allegory alone, we discover extensive symbolism and wonder if there are more details to be discovered each time we study the epic. Milton effectively grabs his readers' attention by raising such controversy and holds our fascination with its intriguing hidden ideas, meanings, and symbolic relationships. Works Cited Milton, John. Paradise lost. New York: W. W. Norton, 1993.