aBOUT...
Milton’s Paradise Lost is a national epic. There are two volumes to this national epic, the other being Paradise Regained. One overarching thing to be aware of while reading is because this is a national epic there are political undertones to this story, specifically in reference to the trouble the monarchy was facing at this time.
Book one starts with an explanation of what the entire epic is going to be about and Milton, “quite humbly” introduces himself and why he is writing this national epic.
Was Milton really humble, considering his epic is twelve-books long? The rest of the book covers the fall of Satan and those that fell with him.
Book four covers Satan’s entrance into the garden, where he happens upon Adam and Eve and learns of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Satan is found by the angels guarding Adam and Eve and flees the garden. Consider your feelings toward Satan at this point in the story. Do you feel sympathy for Satan or do you think he got what he deserved? Also consider Milton’s description of Eve and her first moments on Earth. What is Milton already implying about Eve at this point?
Book seven and eight are a conversation between the angel Raphael and Adam. Adam inquires as to the creation of the world as Raphael saw it and book seven is the answer to that question. Book eight covers Adam response to Raphael’s story and ends with Adam talking about the beauty and love of Eve. It is important to note Raphael’s response because he tells Adam to be wary of Eve’s beauty and to love God above all else. This is interesting foreshadowing because not only do we know what is going to happen, but also once again Milton is implying something about Eve’s behavior, and maybe women in general.
In book nine, Satan sneaks into the Garden of Eden by disguising himself as a snake. He hesitates because he is jealous that he can’t enjoy the Garden of Eden. He acts like he thinks that he garden is better than heaven was. It makes him feel angry and sad. Adam and Eve separate so that they can work separately to accomplish more. Satan finds Eve and tricks her into eating an apple from the tree and humankind is doomed. Eve then gets Adam to eat the fruit so that they can forever be together. This is when Paradise is lost.
In book eleven, God makes the plan to have his son come to Earth to save people from their sins. He also kicks Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden because they can no longer live in a place that is pure. Michael, an angel, then shows them an image of death which just happens to be the first murder between Cain and Abel. He is then shown people dancing and partying and, after assuming that this is a good vision, is informed that it is not and they are all going to die. Lastly, he is shown the Earth being destroyed by a flood and how Noah helps to repopulate the Earth with the animals and people from his arc.
In book twelve, Michael finishes talking about how the Earth is repopulated by Noah. The people are obedient for a while until Nimrod becomes a leader and tries to build a tower to heaven and mankind is cursed with being able to speak different languages. Michael goes on and talks about the story of Abraham as well as his descendants and their slavery in Egypt and then their escape after the plagues. Adam is glad to know that there is still a way to get to heaven. He is also glad to know that there will be a Messiah to save the world. At the end, Adam and Eve leave the Garden of Eden and an angel is placed to protect the gate with a sword made of fire.
Book one starts with an explanation of what the entire epic is going to be about and Milton, “quite humbly” introduces himself and why he is writing this national epic.
Was Milton really humble, considering his epic is twelve-books long? The rest of the book covers the fall of Satan and those that fell with him.
Book four covers Satan’s entrance into the garden, where he happens upon Adam and Eve and learns of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Satan is found by the angels guarding Adam and Eve and flees the garden. Consider your feelings toward Satan at this point in the story. Do you feel sympathy for Satan or do you think he got what he deserved? Also consider Milton’s description of Eve and her first moments on Earth. What is Milton already implying about Eve at this point?
Book seven and eight are a conversation between the angel Raphael and Adam. Adam inquires as to the creation of the world as Raphael saw it and book seven is the answer to that question. Book eight covers Adam response to Raphael’s story and ends with Adam talking about the beauty and love of Eve. It is important to note Raphael’s response because he tells Adam to be wary of Eve’s beauty and to love God above all else. This is interesting foreshadowing because not only do we know what is going to happen, but also once again Milton is implying something about Eve’s behavior, and maybe women in general.
In book nine, Satan sneaks into the Garden of Eden by disguising himself as a snake. He hesitates because he is jealous that he can’t enjoy the Garden of Eden. He acts like he thinks that he garden is better than heaven was. It makes him feel angry and sad. Adam and Eve separate so that they can work separately to accomplish more. Satan finds Eve and tricks her into eating an apple from the tree and humankind is doomed. Eve then gets Adam to eat the fruit so that they can forever be together. This is when Paradise is lost.
In book eleven, God makes the plan to have his son come to Earth to save people from their sins. He also kicks Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden because they can no longer live in a place that is pure. Michael, an angel, then shows them an image of death which just happens to be the first murder between Cain and Abel. He is then shown people dancing and partying and, after assuming that this is a good vision, is informed that it is not and they are all going to die. Lastly, he is shown the Earth being destroyed by a flood and how Noah helps to repopulate the Earth with the animals and people from his arc.
In book twelve, Michael finishes talking about how the Earth is repopulated by Noah. The people are obedient for a while until Nimrod becomes a leader and tries to build a tower to heaven and mankind is cursed with being able to speak different languages. Michael goes on and talks about the story of Abraham as well as his descendants and their slavery in Egypt and then their escape after the plagues. Adam is glad to know that there is still a way to get to heaven. He is also glad to know that there will be a Messiah to save the world. At the end, Adam and Eve leave the Garden of Eden and an angel is placed to protect the gate with a sword made of fire.
sTUDY gUIDE
sg7_paradiselost.pdf | |
File Size: | 215 kb |
File Type: |
Much like Spenser's Faerie Queen, Milton's Paradise Lost was intentionally written to glorify England, a Protestant nation at this point. This epic poem relates the story of Adam and Eve's fall from grace. Below you will find summaries of each of the twelve books of Paradise Lost. The ones in BOLD are the one that WE WILL BE READING. The rest are there to help give you a sense of what happens in the books that we will not be reading. Book 9 is the MOST important as this is the one that relates the Fall itself. This is a lengthy text, so make sure to allow yourself enough time to read it.
pARADISE lOST (1667)
|
bOOKS 1 & 4Book 1: It begins in medius res (in the middle of things) in hell as Satan tries to decide whether to attack heaven again. He and his followers build their palace called Pandemonium. This book also tells the story of mankind’s Fall.
Book 2: Rather than battle God directly, Satan and his followers decide to seek a safer course of action, looking for the new world that God created. Book 3: Seeing Satan make his way to this new world, God’s son offers himself to save mankind. Satan, assuming the form of a lesser angel, convinces the angel Uriel to tell him the way to Eden. Book 4: Satan gains entry to Paradise and, jealous of Adam and Eve’s favor with God, seeks to tempt them. Uriel warns Gabriel, the angel who guards the gates of Eden, of Satan’s presence. Gabriel finds Satan whispering into Eve’s ear and casts him out, though not before he has learned of the Tree of Knowledge that Adam and Eve are forbidden to eat from. bOOKS 7-9Book 5: Eve dreams of Satan’s temptation; Adam reassures her. God sends his angel Raphael to tell Adam that he and Eve have free will and thus may fall, and then to relate Satan’s fall to Adam.
Book 6: Raphael continues his story of Satan’s battle with God and fall from grace, and explains that this is why Satan hates and envies Man. Book 7: The story of the world’s creation relates by Raphael, one of God’s angels. Book 8: Adam’s story. He relates all that he remembers of his first experiences to Raphael, who leaves thereafter. Book 9: The Fall. Satan temps Eve and Adam eats too out of love—if his love falls, he resolves himself to fall with her. |
bOOKS 11 & 12Book 10: Satan returns to Pandemonium victorious. God prophecies that his Son will redeem Adam and Eve’s offspring against Satan. Even convinces Adam to repent and supplicate themselves to God, trusting that their children will be revenged upon Satan.
Book 11: God receives Adam and Eve’s prayers. They are sent out of Paradise and told of the future of their race up until the Flood. Book 12: Michael, the angel, continues the story, relating what will happen after the Flood. Adam is comforted and he and Eve descend from Paradise. |
Genesis 3: The Fall
Compare these passages to book 9 of Paradise lost
King James Version [KJV]3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
3:2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3:3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. 3:7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. 3:8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. Copied from http://www.bibletools.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Bible.show/sVerseID/71/eVerseID/71 13 Oct 2015.
|
New Revised Standard Version [NRSV][3:1] Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?” [3:2] The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; [3:3] but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.’” [3:4] But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die; [3:5] for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” [3:6] So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. [3:7] Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.
Copied from https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=genesis+3&version=NRSV Oct 2015.
|