I.
2:10-2:20
A. Book V
1.
Morning awakening: 12-13
a)
His wonder was to find unwak'nd Eve
With Tresses discompos'd, and glowing Cheek, [ 10 ]
As through unquiet rest: he on his side
Leaning half-rais'd, with looks of cordial Love
Hung over her enamour'd, and beheld
Beautie, which whether waking or asleep,
Shot forth peculiar
graces; http://www.christs.cam.ac.uk/darknessvisible/illlustration/gustave%5Fdore/paradise_lost_20.jpg
2.
Eve's dream
a)
Satan
eating fruit--many different attractions--make Gods of men; flying and dropping
87
3.
Adam's warning--Reason vs. imagination
4.
Raphael's visit
a)
warning--again
freedom of choice
b)
Eve
Ministers naked 444 and not part of the boys' club--though so attractive
c)
Tells
Adam men may eventually become all spirit 494
d)
Raphael
tells the back story of SatanÕs rebellion—motivation by the appointment
of the viceroy
B. Book VI
1.
The War in Heaven
a)
Epic
narrative
b)
Invention
of gunpower and cannons
C. Book VII
1.
Invocation of heavenly muse; writing at night; evil days of
darkness
a)
I Sing with mortal
voice, unchang'd
To hoarce or mute, though fall'n
on evil dayes, [ 25 ]
On evil
dayes though fall'n,
and evil tongues;
In darkness, and with dangers compast round,
And solitude; yet not alone, while thou
Visit'st my slumbers Nightly, or when Morn
Purples the East: still govern thou my Song, [ 30 ]
Urania, and fit
audience find, though few.
But drive farr off the barbarous dissonance
Of Bacchus and his Revellers,
2.
The creation of the world by the Son—
a)
denial
of BaconÕs insistence on keeping science and religion separate
b)
naturalist
descriptions
3.
[[Differences from Genesis
a)
Done
by the Son--a Christian version of Creation, emphasizing the back story of
Genesis 1
b)
Plurality
of God as he turns into Son and choruses of angels--more grandiose production
c)
Genesis
has two distinct creation stories--in first male and female created equal,
after the animals; in second, Adam created first, then the animals, then Eve.
Milton includes prohibition in his story of sixth day, trying to reconcile two
narratives
(1)
Milton
ingeniously deals with the discrepancy by allowing Raphael's account to concur
with Genesis 1, and Adam's to correspond to that of Genesis 2, and by having
Raphael admit that he was not present at Adam's creation. He further separates
the two accounts from each other by placing them in books 7 and 8,
respectively.]]
4.
natural descriptions—
a)
onomatopoetic
sounds of natural processes, energies and movements;
(1)
Vegetation
309-327:
Éand said, Let
th' Earth
Put forth the verdant Grass, Herb yielding Seed, [ 310 ]
And Fruit Tree yielding Fruit after her kind;
Whose Seed is in her self upon the Earth.
He scarce had said, when the bare Earth, till then
Desert and bare, unsightly, unadorn'd,
Brought forth the tender Grass, whose verdure clad [ 315 ]
Her Universal Face with pleasant green,
Then Herbs of every leaf, that sudden flour'd
Op'ning thir various colours, and made gay
Her bosom smelling sweet: and these scarce blown,
Forth flourish't thick the clustring
Vine, forth crept [ 320 ]
The smelling Gourd, up stood the cornie Reed
Embattell'd in her field: and
the humble
Shrub,
And Bush with frizl'd hair implicit:
last
Rose as in Dance the stately Trees, and spred
Thir branches hung with copious Fruit; or gemm'd [ 325 ]
Thir blossoms: with high woods the hills were crownd,
With tufts the vallies and each fountain side,
With borders long the Rivers.
(2) Fish in sea 399-410 And let the Fowle
be multiply'd on the Earth.
Forthwith the Sounds and Seas, each Creek and Bay
With Frie innumerable swarme,
and Shoales [ 400 ]
Of Fish that with thir Finns
and shining Scales
Glide under the green Wave, in Sculles that oft
Bank
the mid Sea: part single or with mate
Graze the Sea weed thir pasture, and through Groves
Of Coral stray, or sporting with quick glance [ 405 ]
Show to the Sun thir wav'd
coats dropt with Gold,
Or in thir Pearlie
shells at ease, attend
Moist nutriment, or
under Rocks thir food
In jointed
Armour watch: on smooth the Seale,
And bended Dolphins play:
II. 2:20-2:30 Book
VIII
A. At end of long narrative about creation, Raphael's warning
about not pursuing too much knowledge, but rather knowing what's right
B. Adam wants to tell Raphael his story; his adoration of the
Angel "while I sit with thee, I seem in Heaven"--who likes him too:
"Nor are thy lips ungraceful Sire of Men/Nor tongue ineloquent"
218-219
C. Wakes up alive, led to Eden by spirit, meets God, who gives
him paradise 318--plus the warning, tells him to name all things
D. First debate about Eve: Adam vs. God
1.
.
In solitude
What
happiness, who can enjoy alone, [ 365 ]É
What call'st
thou solitude, is not the Earth
2.
With
various living creatures, and the Aire [ 370 ]
Replenisht, and all these at thy
command
To come and
play before thee; know'st
thou not
Thir language and thir wayes?
3.
Let
not my words offend thee, Heav'nly
Power,
My Maker,
be propitious while I speak. [ 380 ]
Hast thou not made me here
thy substitute,
And these inferiour farr
beneath me set?
Among
unequals what societie
Can sort, what harmonie or true delight?
Which must
be mutual, in proportion due [ 385 ]
Giv'n and receiv'd; but in disparitie
The one
intense, the other still remiss
Cannot well
suit with either, but soon prove
Tedious
alike:
4.
Whereto
th' Almighty answer'd,
not displeas'd.
A nice and suttle happiness I see
Thou to
thyself proposest, in the choice [ 400 ]
Of thy
Associates, Adam, and wilt taste
No
pleasure, though in pleasure, solitarie.
What think'st thou then of mee,
and this my State,
Seem I to
thee sufficiently possest
Of
happiness, or not? who am alone [ 405 ]
5.
Adam answers,.
a)
Thou in thy self art perfet, and in thee [ 415 ]
Is no deficience found; not so is Man,
But in degree, the cause of his desire
By conversation with his like to help,
Or solace his defects
6.
God then relents saying he was just testing Adam
a)
Thus farr to try thee, Adam, I was pleas'd,
And finde thee knowing not of Beasts alone,
Which thou hast rightly nam'd, but of thy self,
Expressing well the spirit within thee free,
E.
Eve taken from his rib in sleep; (470) he
pursues her and she flees at first
F.
Takes her to his bower: "Here
passion first I felt,/Commotion strange" 531
1.
And
disturbance: "Yet when I approach/ her loveliness, so absolute she
seems/Éseems wisest virtuousest, discreetest, bestÉAuthority and Reason on her
wait/Greatness of mind and nobleness thir seat/Build in her loveliest, and
create an awe/About her, as a guard Angelic plact."
G. Angel answers with contacted brow;
1.
In
loving thou dost well, in passion not,
Wherein
true Love consists not;
H. and Adam continues to defend his love, switching then to
questions about love among angels where there is no gender
III. 2:30-3:15 Paradise Lost Book IX
A. 2:30-2:35 Introduction
1.
Proem
a)
Swivel
point of poem--tragic notes--tragedy, about Fall and suffering--"pain is
the note" in heaven and earth.
Inverted U-Shape of a five act tragedy; dramatic structure of dialogue;
great to act out; novelistic—Othello—Iago and Othello
(1)
I now
must change [ 5 ]
Those Notes to Tragic;
foul distrust, and breach
Disloyal on the part of Man, revolt,
And disobedience: On the part of Heav'n
Now alienated, distance and distaste,
Anger and just rebuke, and judgement giv'n, [ 10 ]
That brought into
this World a world of woe,
Sinne and her shadow Death, and Miserie
Deaths Harbinger: Sad task, yet argument
Not less but more Heroic then the
wrauth
Of stern Achilles on his
Foe pursu'd [ 15
b)
More
heroic than traditional epic
(1)
Not sedulous
by Nature to indite
Warrs, hitherto the onely Argument
Heroic deem'd, chief maistrie
to dissect
With long and tedious havoc fabl'd Knights [ 30 ]
In Battels feign'd; the
better
fortitude
Of Patience and Heroic Martyrdom
Unsung;
2.
Themes:
a)
Free
will in action--analyzing moral decisions
b)
nature
of temptation and testing--resistance vs. yielding
c)
love/power
relations of Male and Female
d)
difficulty
of distinguishing true and false arguments
e)
persuasion
and manipulation, deception and self-deception; text and subtext (as in drama)
f)
contrast
and continuity between [prelapsarian]innocence and
[postlapsarian]experience--especially in respect to dominance, love and sex
g)
novelistic
psychology and detail--
3.
Satan's soliloquy--as in Book 4
a)
Expression
of mood and inner conflict
b)
"Constrained/Into a beast, and mixt with bestial
slime"
c)
Pain
of seeing others' joys--"only in
destroying I find ease" 129--since he lost his
d)
Envy--sight
of angels serving men--
(1)
Revenge,
at first though sweet,
Bitter ere long back on it self recoiles; 171-2
Let it; I reck not, so it light well aim'd,
B. 2:35-2:45
1.
The choice to separate
a)
Eve's
plan for division of labor--more efficient work by their separating 205
(1)
Adam, well may we labour still to dress [ 205 ]
This Garden, still to tend Plant, Herb and Flour,
Our pleasant task enjoyn'd, but till more hands
Aid us, the work under our labour grows,
Luxurious by restraint; what we by day
Lop overgrown, or prune, or prop, or bind, [ 210 ]
One night or two with wanton growth derides
Tending to wilde. Thou therefore now advise
Or hear
what to my minde first thoughts present,
Let us divide our labours,É
For while so near each other thus all day [ 220 ]
Our taske we choose, what wonder if so near
Looks intervene and smiles, or object new
Casual discourse draw on, which
intermits
Our dayes work brought to little, ... [ 225 ]
b)
Does
she feel crowded by Adam?
c)
Is it
her assigned role to suggest innovations in existing arrangements?
2.
Adam's first decision
a)
He
compliments her houswifely economy, BUT there's no need for more efficiency,
BUT if she needs to be alone, BUT itÕs a risky idea, given the threat of Satan;
he's hurt and nonplussed
(1)
Well
hast thou motion'd,
well thy thoughts imployd
How we might best fulfill the work which here [ 230 ]
God hath assign'd us, nor of me shalt pass
Unprais'd: for nothing
lovelier can be found
In Woman, then to studie
houshold good,
And good workes in her Husband to promote.
Yet not so strictly hath our Lord impos'd [ 235 ]
Labour, as to debarr us
when we need
Refreshment, whether food, or talk between,
Food of the mind, or this sweet intercourse
Of looks and smiles, for smiles from Reason flow,
To brute deni'd, and are of Love the food, [ 240 ]
Love not the lowest end of human life.
(2)
But
if much converse perhaps
Thee satiate,
to short absence I could yield.
For solitude somtimes is best
societie,
And short retirement urges sweet returne. [ 250 ]
(3)
But
other doubt possesses me, least harm
Befall thee sever'd from me; for thou knowst
What hath bin warn'd
us, what malicious Foe
Envying our happiness, and of his own
Despairing, seeks to work us woe and shame [ 255 ]
By sly assault; and somwhere nigh at hand
Watches, no doubt, with greedy hope to find
His wish and best advantage, us asunder,
Hopeless to circumvent us joynd, where each
To other speedie aide
might lend at need;
b)
She
catches his vacillation and acts slighted for his mistrust
(1)
that
thou shouldst my firmness therfore
doubt
To God or thee, because we have a foe [ 280 ]
May tempt it, I expected not to hear.
His violence thou fear'st not, being such,
As wee, not capable of death or paine,
Can either not receave, or can repell.
His fraud is then thy fear, which plain inferrs [ 285 ]
Thy equal fear that my firm Faith and Love
Can by his fraud be shak'n or seduc't;
Thoughts, which how found they harbour in thy brest
Adam, misthought
of her to thee so dear?
c)
Adam
says he'd be vulnerable too
3.
She argues for freedom--need to be tested
a)
And what is Faith, Love,
Vertue
unassaid [ 335 ]
Alone, without exterior help sustaind?
Let us not then suspect our happie State
Left so imperfet by the Maker wise,
As not secure to single or combin'd.
Fraile is our happiness, if this be so, [ 340 ]
And Eden were no Eden thus expos'd.
4.
He says its dangerous--seek not temptation--but finally
lets her go freely
a)
But God left free
the Will, for what obeyes
Reason, is free, and Reason he made right
But bid her well beware, and still erect,
Least by some faire appeering good surpris'd
She dictate false, and misinforme the Will [ 355 ]
To do what God expresly hath forbid,
b)
Trial will come
unsought.
Wouldst thou approve
thy constancie, approve
First thy obedience; th' other who can know,
Not seeing thee attempted, who attest?
But if thou think, trial unsought may finde [ 370 ]
Us both securer then thus warnd
thou seemst,
Go; for thy stay, not free, absents thee more;
Go in thy native innocence, relie
On what thou hast of vertue, summon all,
For God towards thee hath done
his part, do thine. [ 375 ]
5.
They part hands 385
C. 2:45-2:55
1.
Satan's come-on--her initial resistance
a)
Another
tormented soliloquy seeing her; his serpentine movements
b)
His
flattering come-on--first a spectacle and then flattery: Goddess among Gods
(1)
toward
Eve [ 495 ]
Address'd his way, not with indented wave,
Prone on the ground, as since, but on his reare,
Circular base of rising foulds, that tour'd
Fould above fould a
surging Maze, his Head
Crested aloft, and Carbuncle his Eyes; [ 500 ]
With burnisht Neck of verdant Gold, É
(2)
Oft he
bowd
His turret Crest, and sleek enamel'd Neck, [ 525 ]
Fawning, and lick'd the ground whereon she trod.
His gentle dumb expression turnd at length
The Eye of Eve to mark his play; he glad
Of her attention gaind, with Serpent Tongue
Oranic,
or impulse of vocal Air, [ 530 ]
His fraudulent temptation thus began.
(3)
Wonder not, sovran
Mistress, if perhaps
Thou canst, who art sole Wonder, much less arm
Thy looks, the Heav'n of mildness, with disdain,
Displeas'd that I approach thee thus, and gaze [ 535 ]
Insatiate, I thus single, nor have feard
Thy awful brow, more awful thus retir'd.
Fairest
resemblance of thy Maker faire,
Thee all things living gaze on, all things thine
By gift, and thy Celestial Beautie adore [ 540 ]
With ravishment beheld, there best beheld
Where universally admir'd; but here
In this enclosure wild, these Beasts among,
Beholders rude, and shallow to discerne
Half what in thee is fair, one man except, [ 545 ]
Who sees thee? (and what is one?) who shouldst be
seen
A Goddess among Gods, ador'd and serv'd
By Angels numberless, thy daily Train.
c)
She's
not impressed by ÒwhatÕs a girl like you doing in a place like this,Ó but
curious. Shows her mental acuity
by marveling at his ability to speak, not his ability to reason 558
(1)
Though
at the voice much marveling; at length
Not unamaz'd she thus in answer spake.
What may this mean? Language of Man pronounc't
By Tongue of Brute, and human sense exprest?
The first at lest of these I thought deni'd [ 555 ]
To Beasts, whom God on thir Creation-Day
Created mute to all articulat sound;
The latter I demurre, for in thir
looks
Much reason, and in thir actions oft appeers.
Thee, Serpent, suttlest beast of all the field [ 560 ]
I knew, but not with human voice endu'd;
d)
His
sales pitch on the fruit--first sensuous pleasure, then possession makes other
animals envious, then it provides the wisdom of God, which leads him to worship her
(1)
To satisfie the sharp desire I had
Of tasting those fair Apples, I resolv'd [ 585 ]
Not to deferr; hunger and thirst at once,
Powerful perswaders, quick'nd
at the scent
Of that alluring fruit, urg'd me so keene.
About the mossie Trunk I wound me soon,
For high from ground the branches would require [ 590 ]
Thy utmost reach or Adams: Round the Tree
All other Beasts that saw, with like desire
Longing and envying stood, but
could not reach.
Amid the Tree now got, where plenty hung
Tempting so nigh, to pluck and eat my fill [ 595 ]
I spar'd not, for such pleasure till that hour
At Feed or Fountain never had I found.
(2)
Sated
at length, ere long I might perceave
Strange alteration in me, to
degree
Of Reason in my inward Powers, and Speech [ 600 ]
Wanted not long, though to this shape retain'd.
Thenceforth to Speculations high or deep
I turnd my thoughts, and with capacious mind
Considerd all things visible in Heav'n,
Or Earth, or Middle,
all things fair and good; [ 605 ]
But all that fair and good in thy Divine
Semblance, and in thy Beauties heav'nly Ray
United I beheld; no Fair to thine
Equivalent or second, which compel'd
Mee thus, though importune perhaps, to come [ 610 ]
And gaze, and worship thee of right declar'd
Sovran of Creatures, universal Dame.
e)
She's
sardonic and clever, yet more curious:
(1)
Serpent,
thy
overpraising leaves in doubt [ 615 ]
The vertue of that Fruit, in thee first prov'd:
But say, where grows the Tree, from hence how far?
2.
Satan's appeal
a)
As when of old som Orator renound [ 670 ]
In Athens or free Rome, where
Eloquence
Flourishd, since mute, to som
great cause addrest,
Stood in himself collected, while each part,
Motion, each act won audience ere the tongue,
Somtimes in highth
began, as no delay [ 675 ]
Of Preface brooking
through his Zeal of Right.
So standing, moving, or to highth upgrown
The Tempter all impassiond thus began.
b)
O Sacred, Wise,
and Wisdom-giving Plant,
Mother of Science,
Now I feel thy Power [ 680 ]
Within me cleere, not onely
to discerne
Things in thir Causes, but to trace the wayes
Of highest
Agents, deemd however wise.
Queen of this Universe, doe not believe
Those rigid threats of Death; ye
shall not Die: [ 685 ]
How should ye? by the Fruit? it gives you Life
To
Knowledge, By the Threatner, look on mee,
Mee who have touch'd
and tasted, yet both live,
And life more perfet have attaind
then Fate
Meant mee, by ventring
higher then my Lot. [ 690 ]
Shall that be shut to Man, which to the Beast
Is open? or will God incense his ire
For such a petty Trespass, and not praise
Rather your dauntless vertue, whom the pain
Of Death denounc't, whatever thing Death be, [ 695 ]
Deterrd not from atchieving
what might leade
To happier life, knowledge of Good and Evil;
Of good, how just? of evil, if what is evil
Be real, why not known, since easier shunnd?
God therefore cannot hurt ye, and be just; [ 700 ]
Not just, not God; not feard then, nor obeyd:
Your feare it self of Death removes
the feare.
Why then was this forbid? Why but to awe,
Why but to keep ye low and ignorant,
His worshippers; he knows that in the day [ 705 ]
Ye Eate thereof, your Eyes that seem so cleere,
Yet are but dim, shall perfetly be then
Op'nd and cleerd, and
ye shall be as Gods,
Knowing both Good and Evil as they know.
That ye should be as Gods, since I as Man, [ 710 ]
Internal
Man, is but proportion meet,
I of brute human, yee of human Gods.
So ye shall die perhaps, by putting off
Human, to put on Gods, death to be wisht,
Though threat'nd, which no worse then this can bring. [ 715 ]
And what are Gods that Man may not become
As they, participating
God-like food?
The Gods are first, and that advantage use
On our belief, that all from them proceeds;
I question it, for this fair Earth I see, [ 720 ]
Warm'd by the Sun, producing every kind,
Them nothing: If
they all things, who enclos'd
Knowledge of Good and Evil in this Tree,
That whoso eats thereof, forthwith attains
Wisdom without their leave?
(1)
Ancient rhetorics: "as when of Old some Orator
renownd/In Athens or free Rome where eloquence flourished/Since Mute" 670
(2)
Milton as humanist, republican rebel and author of
Aereopagitica
(3)
Dont believe what you've been told--look how I've been
rewarded
(4)
God will "praise...your dauntless virtue"
(5)
Knowledge is good, therefore God could not be just if he
punished you for seeking it. If he's not just he's not God and therefore not to
be feared
(6)
God is forbidding you from gaining knowledge for evil
motives--"to keep ye low and ignrant/His worshippers" 705
(7)
This is what the Serpent says in Genesis 3.5, but it's later
confirmed by God: "The man has become like one of us, to know good and
evil, and now lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life, and
eat, and live for ever: " Genesis 3.22
(8)
Death may mean death to human life and putting on divine
life--714--twisting word meanings
(9)
Because "Gods are first" they delude us that they
have created the world. "I question it, for this fair Earth I see/Warmed
by the Sun, producing every kind,/them nothing"722
(10)
"Can envy dwell/in heavenly breasts?"
3.
Eve's Fall
a)
Milton's
ambiguous account of her intellectual response: "in her ears the sound/Yet
rung of his persuasive words, impregn'd/with Reason, to her seeming, and with
Truth."736
b)
She
restates Satan's arguments, even more eloquently: "what forbids he but to
know/forbids us good, forbids us to be wise?/Such prohibitions bind not."
760
4.
Eve eats
a)
So saying, her
rash hand in evil hour [ 780 ]
Forth reaching to the Fruit, she pluck'd, she eat:
Earth felt the wound, and Nature from her seat
Sighing through all her Works gave signs of woe,
That all was lost.
c)
Back to the Thicket
slunk
The guiltie Serpent, and well might, for Eve [ 785 ]
Intent now wholly on her taste, naught else
Regarded, such delight till then, as seemd,
In Fruit she never tasted, whether true
Or fansied so, through expectation high
Of knowledg, nor was God-head from her thought. [ 790 ]
Greedily she ingorg'd without restraint,
And knew
not eating Death: Satiate at length,
And hight'nd as with Wine, jocond
and boon,
Thus to her self she pleasingly began.
(1)
"Earth felt the wound"
(2)
"greedily she ingorged without restraint"
(3)
"nor was godhead from her thought" 790
d)
Experience, next to thee
I owe,
Best guide; not following thee, I had remaind
In ignorance, thou op'nst Wisdoms
way,
And giv'st access, though secret she retire. [ 810 ]
And I perhaps am secret;
Heav'n is high,
High and remote to see from thence distinct
Each thing on Earth; and other care perhaps
May have diverted from continual watch
Our great Forbidder, safe with all his Spies [ 815 ]
(1)
will worship the tree and Sapience and Experience
(2)
then mocks God, whom she hopes never saw what
happened--"Our great Forbidder, safe with all his Spies/About him 815
D. 2:55-3:00
1.
Eve's second choice:
a)
But to Adam
in what sort
Shall I appeer? shall I to him make known
As yet my change, and give him to partake
Full happiness with mee, or rather not,
But keep the odds of Knowledge in my power [ 820 ]
Without Copartner? so to add what wants
In Femal Sex, the more to draw his Love,
And render me more equal,
and perhaps,
A thing not undesireable, somtime
Superior: for inferior
who is free? [ 825 ]
This may be well: but what if God have
seen
And Death ensue? then I shall be no more,
And Adam wedded to another Eve,
Shall live with her enjoying, I extinct;
A death to think. Confirm'd then I resolve, [ 830 ]
Adam shall share with me in bliss or woe:
So dear I love him, that with him all deaths
I could endure, without him live no life.
(1)
Thinks about not telling Adam, making herself more
desireable, and then more powerful than him 825
(2)
Fear intrudes--maybe God did see what happened--if she dies
Adam will have another Eve 828--jealousy makes her reverse and decide to share
it
(3)
Realizes that her "love" for him, mixed with fear,
jealousy and possessiveness, not care for his welfare, is more powerful than
her pride and ambition. 833
E. 3:00-305
1.
Adam's Fall
a)
Adam the while
Waiting desirous her return, had wove
Of choicest Flours a Garland to adorne [ 840 ]
Her Tresses, and her rural labours crown,
As Reapers oft are wont thir Harvest Queen.
Great joy he promis'd
to his thoughts, and new
Solace in her return, so long delay'd;
Yet oft his heart, divine
of somthing ill, [ 845 ]
Misgave him; hee the faultring measure
felt;
And forth to meet her went, the way she took
That Morn when first they parted; by the Tree
Of Knowledge he must pass, there he her met,
Scarse from the Tree returning; in her hand [ 850 ]
A bough of fairest fruit that downie smil'd,
New gatherd, and ambrosial smell diffus'd.
To him she hasted, in her face excuse
Came
Prologue, and Apologie to prompt,
Which with bland words at will she thus addrest. [ 855 ]
(1)
He waits in innocence with garland woven for her
b)
She
reports enthusiastically the joys of the apple, the arguments of Satan, along
with the threat that if he doesnÕt join her, she may have to leave him because
she's become so Godlike while he remains human 883-5
(1)
For
bliss, as thou hast part, to me is bliss,
Tedious,
unshar'd
with thee, and odious soon. [ 880 ]
Thou therefore also taste, that equal Lot
May joyne us, equal Joy, as equal Love;
Least thou not tasting, different degree
Disjoyne us, and I then too late renounce
Deitie for thee, when Fate will not permit.
[ 885 ]
c)
He's
astonished, sees her as lost, lost, but resolves to join her because he cant
live without her.
(1)
And mee with thee hath ruind, for
with thee
Certain my resolution is to Die;
How can I live without thee, how forgoe
Thy sweet Converse and Love so dearly joyn'd,
To live again in these wilde Woods forlorn? [ 910 ]
Should God create another Eve, and I
Another Rib afford, yet loss of thee
Would never from my heart; no no, I feel
The Link of Nature draw me: Flesh of Flesh,
Bone of my Bone thou art, and from thy State [ 915 ]
Mine never shall be parted, bliss
or woe.
(2) But past who can recall, or done
undoe?
Not God Omnipotent, nor Fate, yet so
Perhaps thou shalt not Die, perhaps the Fact
Is not so hainous now, foretasted Fruit,
Profan'd first by the Serpent, by him first [ 930 ]
Made common and unhallowd ere our taste;
Nor yet on him found deadly, he yet lives,
Lives, as thou saidst, and gaines
to live as Man
Higher degree of Life, inducement strong
To us, as likely tasting to attaine [ 935 ]
Proportional ascent, which cannot be
But to be Gods, or Angels Demi-gods.
d)
Like
Satan and the devils, he now rationalizes the decision --God couldnt possibly
punish them because that would gratify his enemy Satan-- and accepts the
punishment--"Death is to me as life"954 and reaffirms his choice of
her over God [opposite of Abraham]954
e)
Which
way would you go given this choice?
f)
What
are the benefits and losses?
F.
3:05-3:15
1.
Aftermath--fallen lovers, knowing good and evil
a)
They
"swim in mirthÉin lust they burn" 1015
(1)
As
with new Wine intoxicated both
They swim in mirth, and fansie
that they feel
Divinitie within them breeding wings [ 1010 ]
Wherewith to scorne the Earth: but that false Fruit
Farr other operation first displaid,
Carnal desire enflaming, hee
on Eve
Began to cast lascivious Eyes, she him
As wantonly repaid; in
Lust they burne: [ 1015 ]
b)
After
sleep they awaken and feel "this newcomer" shame and nakedness 1052
(1)
each
the other viewing,
Soon found thir Eyes how op'nd,
and thir minds
How dark'nd; innocence, that as a veile
Had shadow'd them from knowing ill, was gon, [ 1055 ]
Just confidence, and native righteousness
And honour from about them, naked left
To guiltie shame hee cover'd
c)
Adam
feels like hiding himself, and especially "those PartsÉthat seem most/to
shame obnoxious and unseemliestÉ"
(1)
O
might I here
In solitude live savage, in some glade [ 1085 ]
Obscur'd, where highest Woods impenetrable
To Starr or Sun-light, spread thir
umbrage broad,
And brown as Evening: Cover me ye Pines,
Ye Cedars, with innumerable boughs
Hide me, where I may never see them more. [ 1090 ]
But let us now, as in bad plight, devise
What best may for
the present serve to hide
The Parts of each from other, that seem most
To shame obnoxious,
and unseemliest seen,
Some Tree whose broad smooth Leaves together sowd, [ 1095 ]
And girded on our loyns, may cover round
Those middle parts, that this new commer, Shame,
There sit not, and reproach us as unclean
d)
Full
of high passions--regret, reproach and evasion
(1)
Began
to rise, high Passions, Anger, Hate,
Mistrust, Suspicion, Discord, and shook sore
Thir inward State of Mind, calm Region once [ 1125 ]
And full of Peace, now tost and turbulent:
(3)
which
who knows
But might as ill have happ'nd thou being by,
Or to thy self perhaps: hadst thou been there,
Or here th' attempt, thou couldst
not have discernd
Fraud in the Serpent, speaking as he spake; [ 1150 ]
No ground of enmitie between us known,
Why hee should mean me ill, or seek to harme.
Was I to have never parted from thy side?
As good have grown there still a liveless Rib.
Being as I am, why didst not thou the Head [ 1155 ]
Command me absolutely not to go,
Going into such danger as thou saidst?
(4)
..they
in mutual accusation spent/the fruitless hours, but neither
self-condemning,/and of their vain contest appeard no end" 1189
IV. 3:15-3:25 Book
X
A. Back to God's-eye view--comforting the heavenly host; Jesus
sent to deal with situation, combining Justice and Mercy 78
B. Calling them, Adam hides and is surly and then grudgingly
comes out claiming he was ashamed of being naked, revealing what's happened,
blaming Eve, who blames serpent
C. Sentence imposed: "to thy husband's
will/thine shall submit, hee over thee shall rule." How is this different from "He for god alone she for
god in him"?
D. Satan returns to hell, meeting Sin and Death on their way to
taking over earth. Satan's triumph spoiled as applause turns to hisses, the
fallen angels turned to serpents, the tree fruit turning to bitter ashes
E.
God foretells eventual victory over sin
and death, but arranges for destructive defects in weather and other natural
conditions to parallel triumph of Sin and Death
F.
Adam and Eve's drama continued.
G. Adam's lament about the pains he brings upon future
generations
H. Longs for death to be free of suffering
I.
Goes to conviction of his sin and guilt,
but reaches despair instead of contrition
J.
Eve tries to comfort and he lashes out at
her 867 "Out of my sight thou Serpent" Repudiates her creation with misogynistic curses
K. Eve cries and begs his forgiveness; takes greater guilt upon
herself
L.
Adam relents and raises her up--saying
he'd try to spare her before God, and reasserts her "frailty
and infirmer Sex" 956
M. She's grateful but comes up with another bad plan: dont
reproduce and commit suicide 1005-6
N. Adam approves the self-discipline in this idea but rejects
the idea as more rebellion and disobedience. Adam insists on repentance and
sorrow and humiliation and passive acceptance and she accedes.
O. through correcting her, he corrects himself --his dominion
now assured as it wasnt before the Fall, fulfilling the command in Genesis, she
shall submit to him.
V. 3:25-3:30 Book
XI and XII
A. Michael comes to kick them out of paradise--lamentation
B. Eve sleeps and Michael gives Adam the prophetic view of all
future human history to the Flood--stories of rebellion and punishment
C. Future history including history of the Israelites, Christ's
coming and sacrifice and resurrection, and the future history of the Church
with its growth and corruptions and splits, until the last judgment when the
elect shall be saved.
D. Michael says the Fall lost humanity true liberty and
therefore tyrants arise who take outward political liberty: "God
in Judgment just/Subjects him from without to violent Lords/Who oft as
undeservedly enthrall/His outward freedom: Tyranny must be, Though to the
Tyrant thereby no excuse." 92
E.
Overthrowing tyranny here is implicitly
condemned--repudiating Milton's earlier revolutionary apology for regicide.
F.
Adam responds to this prophecy of the
ultimate positive outcome of the Fall and of tragic human history--orthodox
doctrine of felix culpa/the fortunate fall
1.
O
goodness infinite...
That all this good of evil shall produce
and evil turn to good; more wonderful
than that by which creation first brough forth
Light out of darkness! Full of doubt I stand
Whether I should repent me now of sin
By me done and occasioned, or rejoic
Much more, that much more good thereof shall spring."
469
G. Final moral of
the story:
1.
"Henceforth
I learn, that to obey is best
And love with fear the only God...
Éwith
good
Still overcoming evil, and by small
Accomplishing great things..." 561
H. Angel concurs:
1.
"then
wilt thou not be loath
to leave this paradise, but shalt possess
A paradise within thee, happier far" 585
I.
Eve agrees and together they leave
Paradise:
1.
"The
World was all before them, where to choose
their place of rest, and Providence their guide
they hand in hand with wandering steps and slow
Through Eden took their solitary way." 645
VI. Tone
and significance of this ending: resigned and hopeful
A. They have knowledge of good and evil learned from experience
rather than instruction or authority;
B. they have no protection from evil, internal or external; Sin
and Death have entered the world;
C. they are alone without the protection of God or Angels
D. They have each other as companions, but the relationship is
hierarchical
E.
they have limited freedom within a wide range of painful
choices
F.
they must not rebel against any outer
authority, even tyrannical rulers, nor expect to make significant changes in
their world or condition.
1.
Michael says the Fall cost humanity liberty and therefore
tyrants arise who take outward political liberty yet must be obeyed,
repudiating Milton's earlier revolutionary apology for regicide.
a)
"God in Judgment
just
Subjects him from without to violent Lords
Who oft as undeservedly enthrall
His outward freedom: Tyranny must be,
Though to the Tyrant thereby no excuse." 92
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