John Milton, Paradise Lost
Chaos in Paradise Lost
Satan discovers Chaos enthroned beside Night amid a noisy court of disorder. The power gives the unformed gulf a political presence as well as a difficult physical landscape. Chaos points the traveller towards the new world, lamenting the domains taken from his realm. Havoc and ruin serve his interest by threatening the ordered creation that has displaced him.
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In the sources
Principal account
LiterarySatan discovers Chaos enthroned beside Night amid a noisy court of disorder. The power gives the unformed gulf a political presence as well as a difficult physical landscape.
Further detail
LiteraryChaos points the traveller towards the new world, lamenting the domains taken from his realm. Havoc and ruin serve his interest by threatening the ordered creation that has displaced him.
Context & interpretation
The entry follows Milton’s personal ruler Chaos. The surrounding abyss is related but distinct; neither the ruler nor the unformed materials are equated with the technical meaning of chaos in modern science.
Original passages
Source 1
Paradise Lost: Illustrated by Gustave Doré
the throne Of ChaosOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Milton, Paradise Lost, active reader leaf 70
Exact passage checked against active scan text and original-leaf mapping; scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0115-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0115-E001-P0070
- Original scan leaf
- 71
- Recorded leaf number
- 71
- Current Reader position
- 66
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 2
Paradise Lost: Illustrated by Gustave Doré
Havoc, and spoil, and ruin, are my gainOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Milton, Paradise Lost, active reader leaf 71
Exact passage checked against active scan text and original-leaf mapping; scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0115-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0115-E001-P0071
- Original scan leaf
- 72
- Recorded leaf number
- 72
- Current Reader position
- 67
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Illustrations
Continue exploring
Night in Paradise Lost
The ancient consort of Chaos, seated in the court of the unformed deep.
Same subject and traditionDeath in Paradise Lost
The crowned shadow guarding Hell, whose appetite turns towards the human world.
Same subject and traditionSin in Paradise Lost
The half-human, half-serpentine gatekeeper who recognises Satan as her originator.