Humanities 3VI. The Last Epic

Lecture 28

Obedience and Sin

Outline

• Ways of Reading Paradise Lost(Theological, Political, Philosophical)

• Relationships: Satan, Adam, Eve

• The Temptation of Eve

Theological Meaning• PL is an interpretation of Genesis from the

perspective of Protestant Christianity (the Sonas the “second root”)

• Milton’s aim: to assert God’s providence andjustify the ways of God to man

• PL is an epic of “Patience and HeroicMartyrdom” (9.25-32)

• The Fall and humanity’s “original sin” is anessential fact about human existence(Luther)

• It explains our mortality, our suffering, thelimits of our knowledge, our enslavement tothe body (lust), and our propensity forfurther sin

• To justify God’s ways, one must understandboth why the Fall has occurred and why it is“fortunate” (providential)

Milton’s Diagnosis• The Fall is foreseen by God but not predestined

(3.102-128)• The misuse of free will is the source of sin: Satan,

Eve and Adam all fall because they choose todisobey God’s command

• This is due to a willful refusal to be ruled (Satan),or to unbridled curiosity (4.201-5; 8.66-75)

• PL teaches obedience to God and intellectualhumility: “Heaven is for thee too high/To knowwhat passes there; be lowly wise/Think only whatconcerns thee, and thy being” (8.172-4, Raphael)

Political Meaning• Milton is a republican: a defender of

individual liberty; an opponent ofmonarchical power and the divine right ofkings

• Superficially, this might seem inconsistentwith the idea that we owe obedience to God

• Satan appears to represent the republicanvirtues of liberty and self-government

• For Milton, Satan only gets it half-right: he prizeshis freedom but also misuses it: he does notrightly govern himself, because he fails torecognize the demands of a legitimate sovereignauthority

• Milton’s view, like that of other Protestantreformers, is that we owe obedience only to God:no human being has natural authority over us

• From this perspective, PL is an epic for theEnglish people addressed to their ownpolitical/religious conflicts (anti-Catholic, anti-episcopalian)

Philosophical/Literary Meaning• What does PL means for us?• PL is a penetrating study of the personalities

of the three main characters (Satan, Eve,Adam) and of the relationships among them

• It is also a profound study of therelationship among three key ideas--freedom, obedience, knowledge--in termsof which we understand our humanity

• On Milton’s account, obedience to God isfundamental

• Disobedience leads “the first parents” to fallfrom an ideal state of innocence and perfecthappiness

• But other accounts are possible. Should weenvy the innocence of the Garden, or is our“fallen” state actually a state of maturity, inwhich we are forced to make choices forourselves on the basis of our “knowledge ofgood and evil”?

• If so, one still must grapple with Milton’scentral ideas: freedom, knowledge, obedience

• What is it to use one’s freedom properly?

• What is the source of the knowledge of goodand evil we need to make correct choices?

• Is all knowledge necessarily good?

• Who has the right to command ourobedience?

Relationships:Satan, Adam, Eve

God

Satan Adam

Eve

Humanity

Adam and Eve• “In naked majesty seemed lords of all”

(4.290)• Natural love (4.307-318, 497-502, 740ff)• Natural inequality: “My Author and

Disposer, what thou bidd’st/ Unargu’d Iobey; so God ordains/God is thy Law, thoumine: to know no more/Is woman’shappiest knowledge and her praise” (4.635-8; cf. 4.295-9, 440-3)

Adam and Eve (4.287-318)Of living creatures, new to sight, and strange Two of far nobler shape, erect and tall, Godlike erect, with native honour clad In naked majesty seemed lords of all: 2 9 0 And worthy seemed; for in their looks divine The image of their glorious Maker shone, Truth, wisdom, sanctitude severe and pure, (Severe, but in true filial freedom placed,) Whence true authority in men; though both 2 9 5 Not equal, as their sex not equal seemed; For contemplation he and valour formed; For softness she and sweet attractive grace; He for God only, she for God in him: His fair large front and eye sublime declared 3 0 0 Absolute rule; and hyacinthine locks Round from his parted forelock manly hung Clustering, but not beneath his shoulders broad: She, as a veil, down to the slender waist Her unadorned golden tresses wore 3 0 5 Dishevelled, but in wanton ringlets waved As the vine curls her tendrils, which implied Subjection, but required with gentle sway, And by her yielded, by him best received, Yielded with coy submission, modest pride, 3 1 0 And sweet, reluctant, amorous delay. Nor those mysterious parts were then concealed; Then was not guilty shame, dishonest shame Of nature's works, honour dishonourable, Sin-bred, how have ye troubled all mankind 3 1 5 With shows instead, mere shows of seeming pure, And banished from man's life his happiest life, Simplicity and spotless innocence!

Adam: Tree of Knowledge (4.411-36)"Sole partner, and sole part, of all these joys, Dearer thyself than all; needs must the Power That made us, and for us this ample world, Be infinitely good, and of his good As liberal and free as infinite; 4 1 5 That raised us from the dust, and placed us here In all this happiness, who at his hand Have nothing merited, nor can perform Aught whereof he hath need; he who requires From us no other service than to k e e p 4 2 0 This one, this easy charge, of all the trees In Paradise that bear delicious fruit So various, not to taste that only tree Of knowledge, planted by the tree of life; So near grows death to life, whate'er death is, 4 2 5 Some dreadful thing no doubt; for well thou knowest God hath pronounced it death to taste that tree, The only sign of our obedience left, Among so many signs of power and rule Conferred upon us, and dominion given 4 3 0 Over all other creatures that possess Earth, air, and sea. Then let us not think hard One easy prohibition, who enjoy Free leave so large to all things else, and choice Unlimited of manifold delights:.."

Eve’s Submission (4.635-638)“My Author and Disposer, what thou bidstUnargued I obey: So God ordains;God is thy law, thou mine: To know no moreIs woman's happiest knowledge, and her praise.”

Ignorance: The Price of Happiness• Happiness => obedience: “God hath pronounced

it death to taste that tree/The only sign of ourobedience left/Among so many signs of power andrule/Conferred upon us, and dominion given/Overall other creatures that possess/Earth, air, andsea….” (4.427ff)

• Happiness => ignorance: “Sleep on/Blest pair;and O yet happiest if ye seek/No happier state, andknow to know no more.” (4.773-5)

Satan• Self-consciousness (4.42-112) and sympathy for

Adam and Eve (4.375-393)• But also envy for their love (4.502-511)• The hook: “All is not theirs, it seems/One fatal

tree there stands, of knowledge called/Forbiddenthem to taste: Knowledge forbidden/Suspicious,reasonless. Why should their Lord/Envy themthat? Can it be sin to know?/Can it be death? Anddo they only stand/By ignorance? Is that theirhappy state/The proof of their obedience and theirfaith?” (4.513-520)

Me miserable! which way shall I fly Infinite wrath, and infinite despair? Which way I fly is Hell; myself am Hell; 75 And, in the lowest deep, a lower deep Still threatening to devour me opens wide, To which the Hell I suffer seems a Heaven. O, then, at last relent: Is there no place Left for repentance, none for pardon left? 80 None left but by submission; and that word Disdain forbids me, and my dread of shame Among the Spirits beneath, whom I seduced With other promises and other vaunts Than to submit, boasting I could subdue 85 The Omnipotent. Ay me! they little know How dearly I abide that boast so vain, Under what torments inwardly I groan, While they adore me on the throne of Hell. With diadem and scepter high advanced, 90 The lower still I fall, only supreme In misery: Such joy ambition finds. But say I could repent, and could obtain, By act of grace, my former state; how soon Would highth recall high thoughts, how soon unsay 95 What feigned submission swore? Ease would recant Vows made in pain, as violent and void. For never can true reconcilement grow, Where wounds of deadly hate have pierced so deep: Which would but lead me to a worse relapse 100 And heavier fall: so should I purchase dear Short intermission bought with double smart. This knows my Punisher; therefore as far From granting he, as I from begging, peace; All hope excluded thus, behold, in stead 105 Of us out-cast, exil'd, his new delight, Mankind created, and for him this world. So farewell, hope; and with hope farewell, fear; Farewell, remorse! all good to me is lost; Evil, be thou my good; by thee at least Divided empire with Heaven's King I hold, 110 By thee, and more than half perhaps will reign; As Man ere long, and this new world, shall know."

Satan

4.73-112

The Temptation of Eve

• Satan prepares the way for Eve’s temptationat the end of bk. 4 when he appears in herdream (4.797-809)

• Eve reports the dream to Adam (5.33-93);he discounts it (5.85-127)

The Emancipation of Eve

• Crucial moment in bk. 9 when Eve assertsher independence (9.205)

• Adam reminds her of the danger they face(warning from Raphael)

• But Eve persists and questions Adams’ faithin her (9.274-89, 323-40)

• Adam’s final reply: go then! (9.370-5)

The Serpent’s Seduction

• Appeals first to Eve’s beauty (9.532-58)• Then to her reason: the fruit has given him

the power of speech• Eve resists (9.647-54)• Satan’s key speech (9.679-732)• Eve relents (9.744-779)