Edward Spencer celebrated allegorical writing with his classic romantic epic "The Faerie Queene." Although Milton criticized the use of allegory, he undoubtedly implemented its use in "Paradise Lost." Although Milton uses allegory, his use of the form differs greatly from Spencer's. His application of allegory is an inversion of typical Spenserian allegory. Milton uses a reverse allegory as an abstract representation of the Holy Trinity of God, the Son, and the Holy Spirit by an Unholy Trinity of Satan, Sin, and Death. As indicated by Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, an allegory is: "a sentence or figurative speech, in which the principal subject is described by another subject resembling in its properties and characteristics. The true subject is kept out of sight and we are left to glean the intentions of the writer or speaker from the similarity of the secondary subject to the primary one." By Webster's definition, Milton clearly performs the exact opposite of what true allegory entails. The Unholy Trinity does not embody the characteristics of the Heavenly Trinity, but in fact embodies the exact opposite of everything the Heavenly Trinity represents. Satan is an allegorical representation of God the Father. Both Satan and God are seen as father figures; God as the Father of all that is virtuous and Satan as the Father of all that is evil. Just as God is King of Heaven, Satan proclaims himself King of Hell. God is the creator of Goodness, as Satan is the creator of Wickedness. All in all, Satan is a perverted representation of God. The three main characteristics of Satan; envy, deception and pride; they are also a contributing factor to the relevance of...... middle of paper......ty work together towards a common goal, they are all evil and deceitful and would undoubtedly turn against each other. Death would have killed Sin, just as Satan would have killed Death, if it meant he would remain unharmed. Satan is the father and creator of the family; therefore nothing good can come from the relationship. The idea that the Holy Trinity can be directly allegorized by a dysfunctional and Unholy Trinity is not applicable. The two can be structured in the same general way; however, according to Webster's definition of "allegory", the two are not a true form because the "secondary subject" does not express to the reader the "properties and characteristics of the primary subject". Works Cited "Allegory". Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary. 1198.The Holy Bible. King James Version. New York: American Bible Society. 1885