• Paradise Lost, John Milton

• Short Summary
• Short Summary Book I
• Short Summary book II
• Short Summary Book III
• Detailed Summary
• Summary Book I, Part I
• Summary Book I, Part II
• Summary Book I, Part III
• Summary Book I, Part IV
• Summary Book II, Part I
• Summary Book II, Part II
• Summary Book II, Part III
• Summary Book III, Part I
• Summary Book III, Part II
• Summary Book III, Part III
• Characters in "Paradise Lost"
• Character of Adam
• Satan Character
• Eve Character
• Paradise Lost Themes and Topics
• Top 10 Quotes from Paradise Lost
• Best Quotes from Paradise Lost

Critical Short Summary of Paradise Lost Book III: "Paradise Lost" by John Milton

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Here Milton thanks the heavenly Muse for having guided him in prophetic work of writing the details of the fall of Satan and his foul plans to dislodge man from that higher seat, Paradise. Then he relates that God, all knowing- all powerful, viewed Satan out of hell and moving towards Paradise to know of man's abode. God foretells Christ the fate of man his fall due:

"So will fall
Hee and his faithless Progenie: whose fault?
Whose but his own? ingrate, he had of mee
All he could have; I made him just and right,
Sufficient to have stood, though free to fall."

When asked by Christ, God reveals that He has higher plans of saving man with his grace and He will upset all plans of Satan. He will pour His grace on mankind and shall raise them after their fall:

"Man shall not quite be lost, but sav'd who will,
Yet not of will in him, but grace in me"

Man will repent and pray to Him for forgiveness and mercy and for this to happen God shall put his umpire "Conscience" in man. God also makes it clear that mercy shall be only for those that remain steadfast and desire it from God Almighty: "They who neglect and scorn, shall never taste;
But hard be hard'nd, blind be blinded more,

That they may stumble on, and deeper fall;
And none but such from mercy I exclude."

Here Christ offers himself to go to the world as a human being; he would bear the agony of Death and would take the anger of God on himself.

"I offer, on mee let thine anger fall;
Account mee man; I for his sake will leave
Thy bosom, and this glorie next to thee
Freely put off, and for him lastly die
Well pleas'd, on me let Death wreck all his rage"

God praises the love of Christ for His creations and praises Christ. While this is happening in heaven, Satan reaches the gates of Paradise in the disguise of an angel bright and fair. Here Uriel, one of the seven superior angels of God, is on his duty as the regel of the Sun. Satan asks him about the wonderful creation of God and it guides Satan of the way.