Paradise Lost: Good Versus Evil
Paradise Lost was written by John Milton in 1667 and it portrays the idea of good versus evil which is seen in many books and movies, as well as other media.
Chronicles of Narnia has many similarities with Paradise Lost, including Christianity and good against evil. The White With is quite similar to Lucifer due to the fact that they both believe where they reign is superior which turns out not to be the case in either story. Paradise Lost tells the story of God and Lucifer as does Chronicles of Narnia. Aslan represents God while the White Witch represents Satan. The Narnians feared the White Witch and her power. The White Witch knew the only one who could defeat her was Aslan which was why she sacrificed him, only to her surprise at the Final Battle he had come back from the dead with thousands of Narnians by his side. She was attempting to defeat Peter Pevenise when Aslan leaped and killed her himself. Chronicles of Narnia is a great portrayal of good versus evil.
Another excellent portrayal for good versus evil is in Star Wars The Revenge of the Sith between Anakin and Obi-Wan. We know from Phantom Menace that Yoda and the rest of the council was against Anakin becoming a Jedi because there was fear in him. In Episode I, Yoda knew he was afraid to lose his mother, which is understandable for a child. However, it makes me curious to know if Yoda knew that there was more fear in him than just that. We hear Yoda tell Anakin; “Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.” We see this happen later in Attack of the Clones, and in Revenge of the Sith. We see Anakin in Attack of the Clones being fearful for his mother’s life and when she died that fear turned to anger causing him to kill all the Tusken Raiders, including the women and children. The slaughter was so powerful it sent a disturbance through the force and it alerted Master Yoda who sensed the Padawan was suffering. This ties in with Episode III due to the fact that Palpatine manages to convince Anakin to join the Dark Side which he does. However, you can clearly see Anakin suffering and fearful when Padme decides she can’t stand with him because of his decision which then causes him to force choke her and blames Obi-Wan for turning her against him. Their duel starts when Anakin declares Obi-Wan his enemy and it ends when Anakin leaps off what I believe is a robot, only to lose both his legs by Obi-Wan’s lightsaber. He’s then left with burns, alive but barely. The video is below.
The final movie that I will be talking about that fits with the theme is my favorite movie Beauty and the Beast. I love both the live action and the animated one equally, but I feel like I can say more with the live action.
Gaston and Belle are two complete opposites. Belle is head strong, a bookwork, kind, brave, stubborn, and isn’t afraid to be different. Gaston on the other hand is manipulative, arrogant, greedy, self-centered, and narcissistic. He’s also nothing like the Beast who is temperamental and selfish at the start of the movie. He only appeared to care about beautiful things and fancy ballroom dances. While the Beast could be seen as evil at the start of the movie with what happened with Maurice and Belle, proving him to be hostile and unkind. However, Belle brought out the best in him and he changed for the better for himself and for Belle. He even let her go from the palace to help her father. Gaston, never would have changed, not even for Belle which is proven many times with their interactions.
Gaston becomes so obsessed with having Belle for a wife, he threatens Belle’s father and leaves him for the wolves to find which is attempted murder. When he doesn’t die because of Agathe’s help, he tries to have him locked in an insane asylum. When Belle stops him and proves the Beast is real, Gaston locks her up with her father in the carriage, declaring that he and the town need to rally together to kill the Beast. Gaston leaves the townspeople to go after Beast alone and it’s clear that while Gaston wants to fight Beast doesn’t. The only time he fights back is when Belle shows up. He shows Gaston mercy and lets him go before going to back to Belle. Gaston manages to get two shots in from a pistol before the part of the castle he was standing on crumbles, causing him to fall to his death. The last petal falls and Beast dies, only for the curse to be lifted once Belle says she loves him. Good always triumphs over evil and according to Beauty and the Beast love could follow as well. The full fight scene is below.
Good always wins over evil, even though if it seems like evil will prevail. Good will come back ten times stronger. Don’t give into evil, fight back and you will win.
