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3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
Bought the book for a pound back in 1997 and, my oh my, there's a reason it's taken me seventeen years to get around to reading it. I've only persevered to the end because I'm off work/on the sick, I have plenty of time to fill, and I promised myself I'd finish the damn thing. It is fewer than 300 pages after all.
There's some fascinating (and seriously messed up) stuff: Satan's daughter/partner pregnant with his children/grandchildren?! What was Milton on?
Unsettling as that is, Satan and the other fallen angels are still by far the most interesting characters: Adam and Eve are dull beyond belief (I couldn't wait for them to bite the bloody fruit!), and god, Jesus and the angels aren't much better.
Glad I read it. But also glad it's over with.
There's some fascinating (and seriously messed up) stuff: Satan's daughter/partner pregnant with his children/grandchildren?! What was Milton on?
Unsettling as that is, Satan and the other fallen angels are still by far the most interesting characters: Adam and Eve are dull beyond belief (I couldn't wait for them to bite the bloody fruit!), and god, Jesus and the angels aren't much better.
Glad I read it. But also glad it's over with.
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Loved the poem and it was fun teaching. The allegory and allusions were quite fantastic and forced me to journey through Greek, Roman, and Biblical mythologies.
challenging
dark
hopeful
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Milton isn't for everyone. I'm still 50/50 myself but it's still great to hear Satan's side of things.
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This was unexpectedly great. I started reading this after I read Mikey Carey's Lucifer back in December, but I have to admit I surprised myself by actually finishing it. But once you get started, and once you get used to the language and the form, this is, well, great. I always feel slightly ridiculous when writing about classics, but then again I've also read a few classics that I hated (although I could see why they're important).
So, this, if you like epic poetry, is really fun and engaging, and the language is stunning and beautiful. I found the footnotes in this edition pretty helpful most of the time, although sometimes it was a bit frustrating to have all the allusions I didn't get listed. Then again, that's my problem.
What was also interesting was that I pretty much sided with Satan. Not in every detail, really, and trying to pull Adam and Eve down with him was pretty mean, but from today's point of view, challenging (God's) authority isn't such a bad thing. Obviously.
I'm glad I read it, and for people who like stories that use Paradise Lost as their basis (like Lucifer or His Dark Materials) it's probably a must read.
A note on my reading process: I set myself the goal of reading at least 4 pages each day. I usually read them right before going to bed, and often read more than just 4 pages. As a minimum, it worked quite well, though, and I really managed to read a bit every day. I don't quite recall when I started, but it must have been at the start of December, which means it took me under two months. Which is cool. I finished it in a bit of a rush, because my next project is the Ilias and ever since my copy arrived I can't keep my fingers off it.
So, this, if you like epic poetry, is really fun and engaging, and the language is stunning and beautiful. I found the footnotes in this edition pretty helpful most of the time, although sometimes it was a bit frustrating to have all the allusions I didn't get listed. Then again, that's my problem.
What was also interesting was that I pretty much sided with Satan. Not in every detail, really, and trying to pull Adam and Eve down with him was pretty mean, but from today's point of view, challenging (God's) authority isn't such a bad thing. Obviously.
I'm glad I read it, and for people who like stories that use Paradise Lost as their basis (like Lucifer or His Dark Materials) it's probably a must read.
A note on my reading process: I set myself the goal of reading at least 4 pages each day. I usually read them right before going to bed, and often read more than just 4 pages. As a minimum, it worked quite well, though, and I really managed to read a bit every day. I don't quite recall when I started, but it must have been at the start of December, which means it took me under two months. Which is cool. I finished it in a bit of a rush, because my next project is the Ilias and ever since my copy arrived I can't keep my fingers off it.
I read parts of this in college and absolutely hated it, then randomly got the urge to read it in full. I now feel about it the way I feel about 2001: A Space Odyssey: it's genius when there's actually a plot but the rest of it is soooooooo slooooooooow and I've got other shit to be doing. I'm glad I read it, though.
It's the ultimate prequel. Though I read it out of interest in Milton's more human and dramatic portrayal of Satan as opposed to Dante's rendition, the portrayal of Eve got my attention in truly wonderful moments in this epic. Joseph Campbell doesn't refer to Paradise Lost in any of his work I read on the creation myth, yet his reading of the symbolism of the tempting and eating of the apple and their banishment from paradise deepened my appreciation of the story-insights I'll share when they come up. While I was more focused on the biblical and mythical themes and a feminist critique of the Christian creation story as complicated by Milton, the sense of the horror of evil and death may very likely come out of that dark time of the interregnum from which Hobbes’ pessimistic views on humanity, government and the need for a sovereign also derive. I'll share a few more impressions before getting into the meat of my response. His pre-modern sense of time is noticeable - it is vertical and eschatological as opposed to the empty horizontal chronology our modern fiction evokes (see Benedict Anderson). The gods of epic seem to inhabit Milton's God making him seem less mysterious (see Auerbach's Odysseus' scar). This representation actually diminishes the sense of a trinity at times in that Jesus seems more like a Hermes to Jehovah as Zues, and this is how Satan's rebellion can possibly be seen as heroic. Is it fair to read a critique of God's law in Milton's comments that Adam and Eve really don't understand what death is? In book IV, 415 Adam says, 'whate'er death is'. Does his judgment upon them not seem a bit harsh? It feels like as Milton allows the reader to see God's thoughts and discussion, it leads to more and more critical feelings of the flaws in the plan. What did God want of these pitiful humans anyway? Politically, Milton's critique of royalty is fascinating and biblical and puts God as the only sovereign, making divinity seem so earthly especially compared to Dante's more cosmic vision, but it also puts Satan's desire for usurpation and its critique into an understandable context. Milton's idea of hell being chaos is really intriguing on both spiritual and political levels.
Here are my highlights of the books up to books IX-XII where I want my focus. Sin and death as personified in Book II remind me of Grendel and his mother. The beginning of book III where Milton seems to be addressing himself to his reader is really lyrical and beautiful - the muse seems to be assisting. Book IV, lines 17-23 speak poignantly of the hell within. In book IV, there is the suggestion that Adam and Eve were vegetarians and gatherers before the fall, which is highlighted in the change that occurs when death comes to earth and alters the relationships between animals completely. In V, on line 620 a mystical dance is described of angels and spheres that I particularly liked. In book VI, I was intrigued by a comparison of rebels to titans- they are referred to in Dante too when he comes to their rung of hell. In book VII, Milton addresses the muse again, this time asking for help to stay the course and for safety and then Raphael sits down with Adam to tell him all about creation. The feeling of brotherhood was comforting but Eve's absence is troubling. On line 220 of book VII the creation story begins beautifully with God thinking and Milton using Ovid and the Bible as he continues his narration. Significantly the Earth is seen as mother in VII, line 281. "Who seeks to lessen thee, against his purpose serves to manifest the more thy might; his evil thou usest, and from thence creat'st more good. Witness this new-made world, another Heav'n From Heaven gate not far . . . with stars numerous, and every star perhaps a world of destined habitation," (614-18/621-2). Is this where the search for extra-terrestrial life starts? This line just may be the whole point of the work. "Thrice happy if they know their happiness" (631-2) - the most impossible ideal. Book VIII in Adam's discourse on the creation of Eve and his conversation with God sets up the rest of the inevitable end of the story quite well though partly by constructing Eve and woman as secondary beings.
Book IX opens with Satan struggling with accepting his choice of the humiliation of changing into a serpent and hurting these clueless humans. (Satan’s lament, hesitation, and embracing of destruction occur on lines 129-134 and 164-180.) It just so happens that on the day that Satan is ready to strike, Eve decides they should divide up the work and goes to another part of the garden without Adam. They have a long discussion in which Adam expresses fear that she will be lead astray directly if she is not with him because the angels warned them about a plan against them. She leaves his side with permission but it is grudging. Her desire to go out on her own is already a sign of defiance. This whole part of the text seems to be Milton's argument that women should stay in the home and cleave to their mates. It is not surprising he would think this, but as a modern reader it is cringe-worthy especially since her one day of "freedom" lead to "death." I mean that's heavy along the lines of the Greek myth of Pandora. (Some specific line references: 232-234 states women's proper domestic role; Adam uses language to woo her first on 239-243; Then they go back and forth with Adam explaining the danger they face on 261-269 and Eve stating that living in fear lessens the enjoyment of life on 320-340, and Adam tries again to explain why his fear is based on reason with lines 352-356.)
Eve doesn’t recognize the serpent as Satan and she thinks rationally about eating the fruit but reveals her lack of devotion to God. She reasons that eating the forbidden fruit didn’t hurt the snake but helped according to what he says and it doesn’t seem to have made him evil as he is being very kind to her. She focuses on the good it can do - leaving out the evil. She doesn’t mention that it was forbidden in her musing and Milton indicates she is also hungry as it is almost noon. Eve wonders about death but concludes she doesn’t really have knowledge enough to fully consider it. If it will feed body and mind - why not eat it? Satan is in awe of Eve's beauty and describes her as Angelic but softer and again wonders if he should really destroy her on 459–479. In his argument he compels Eve as the “Queen of this universe” to “freely taste” 684-732. He questions God’s omniscience and omnipotence and argues that true power is in nature. He also suggests that god is jealous of their ability to know and he mentions that she will be a new being-like a god, a desire that sums up his whole problem in the first place. She shows total gullibility, but of course she would. She cannot have knowledge that he is evil without knowing of evil. However, from his discourse it is clear that he doesn’t love God and surely this must seem wrong. Her decision is based on hunger, the desire for knowledge and power, and innocence. She was not made obedient. She exercised a facile level of utilitarian reason, but not a deep theological one. Once she has the knowledge, it is too late.
There is an undercurrent of goddesses and gardens and ancient meaning of serpents, connections to humanity and a certain sexual tension (505—512). Adam and Eve didn't think of the serpent as evil yet Satan invests it with a certain power on 89-96. Also, the serpent is described as beautiful and somewhat upright in a coil on lines 500-505 and 525.
That she is not afraid of the serpent reinforces an ancient connection between the goddess and the serpent. In Occidental Mythology, Joseph Campbell explains that the serpent was "revered in the Levant for at least 7,000 years before the composition of the Book of Genesis"(9). For the Sumerians, the serpent was the "consort of the goddess" as "Lord of the Tree of Truth" (9). He also suggests the serpent has taken the form of the testing god. His connection to the axis mundi would explain a serpent coiled around the tree, also found in depictions of the garden of immortality along with a central tree. Campbell suggests that in some traditions the fruit of enlightenment is a gift from the gods found in the garden along with the fruit of life. The snake also symbolizes rebirth (12-14). Joseph Campbell makes a comparison to a Buddhist tale with near East seals featuring a goddess, a tree, and a serpent. He claims "an atmosphere of substantial accord prevails at the cosmic tree, where the goddess and her serpent spouse give support to their worthy son's quest for release from the bondages of birth, disease, old age, and death"(16). Thus Christianity is overlaid on the pagan past from epic and earlier and there are moments where Milton seems to hint at this. In other creation stories, Eve could be a goddess and addressing herself to the fruit as thee seems very pre-Christian in seeing nature as divine in the following lines: “Great are they virtues doubtless, best of fruits” (745) / “to speak thy praise” (749) After eating “Of sovereign, virtuous, precious of all trees” (795) “each morning, and due praise shall tend thee” (800-1) In the notes it is stated that she shifts her song from God to the tree.
Before the Fall, Adam and Eve made love and in the notes it is suggested that Milton viewed married sex as holy. Right after Adam eats the fruit he is overcome by desire and this depiction of their lovemaking is physical and carnal, which is contrasted with references to the spiritual and selfless love of Jesus. They reveal this kind of love for each other too in Adam's eating of the fruit. He is not deceived by Eve in Milton's story. He does it because he loves her, though this action isn't considered heroic because it doesn't save her. When they wake up after sex is when they are ashamed of their nakedness. If Paradise Lost were a romantic comedy, this would be that uncomfortable scene after a drunken one-night stand revealing either the depravity of the main character or a twist in the introduction of the object of love. In his analysis of medieval allegory, Joseph Campbell sets up this equation: Male and female + love = soul (Mythic Image – 257-259).
Book X is full of pathos and drama and ends with some redemption. Milton has the scripts of the Bible and Epic to follow, so some of what I react to in the text comes from the creation myth, but what Milton does with the story in Book X is rather incredible in its cathartic effect on the reader, the working out of theology, and traditions of misogyny we inherit from the tradition and its interpretation. Adam's rancor towards Eve is a sad display of misogyny. He doesn't share his burdens with Eve though he whines about having to bear them. This again reveals the problem with patriarchy, which leads to the fall in the first place. What I mean is that God doesn’t directly address Eve until after the fall. What I loved in book X were Adam's contemplations of the mystery of life and death and the way Eve’s amazing ability to love shows Adam the way forward, and the very clever way Milton interweaves proleptic Christian themes throughout. In the notes, it is stated that Eve hints to Adam that the serpent is Satan and that leads him to understand God’s words and plan in some way, but what isn’t discussed, perhaps because it is plain to the reader, is how Eve’s expression of true remorse in prostration to him for the ill she did to Adam is what shows him how to do the same to God. Yes, this does reiterate patriarchy if looked at from a certain perspective, but it also has a deeply spiritual import.
As I mentioned, the misogyny is laid out there for all to see. This idea that woman is this odd being abhorrent to the divine is at the root of it. Even though Milton suggested earlier that spirits could choose their sex, here he makes it seem like all angels were male. The suggestion is that woman is a defective male. Aristotle suggested this. Cixous analyzes Freud as arguing the same exact thing, though it is pretty clear in Freud's work especially in his essay on fetishism. It also enacts the idea of originality in man, which Haraway defines as a myth that has done humanity, especially women, nothing but harm. This idea of male humanity coming first is one of the most ridiculous parts of the Christian creation myth as it defies older traditions of religion as well as science and ignores other facts in the text. Other animals were created male and female, earth is described as mother, feminine assumed. The idea of sin springing from Satan’s head proposed by Milton is the grotesque mirror of Eve coming from Adam’s rib but also a version of Athena coming from Zeus’s head. The connection made between sin as female and Eve is obvious and plays into this narrative. At the same time, Milton makes Eve so breathtakingly bold after the Fall. I was fascinated by Eve calmly suggesting suicide and infanticide or barrenness to avoid death or the sorrow of life. Her defiance of God is really intriguing as Milton presents it. As Adam states, “Eve, thy contempt of life and pleasure seems/ To argue in thee something more sublime/ And excellent than what thy mind contemns.” (X, 1013-15) The idea of women killing their babies has a pretty strong presence in literature written by women in cases of extremity. Theoretically Eve undergoes the pain of childbirth, but then the pain brings a new miracle of life as will be repeated by Mary to bear Jesus. Thus women are redeemed but only through childbirth. The only other reaction I had was to laugh at Adam only suggesting he will have to do the labor – as if women didn’t end up doing much of the work. Again this is from the Bible, but when God says man will do whatever, humanity is implied. They shared the work in paradise anyway.
Making fire to warm them in the post-Fall world is described as one thing God will give them to make their now finite life comfortable on lines 1070 - 1085. The reference to fire connects Eve's rebellion in a quest for knowledge to Prometheus.
I need to refer to Joseph Campbell again to put the story of the Fall in a context that resonates spiritually and philosophically for me partly because, if he is anything, Campbell is, at least philosophically, a Buddhist as am I though I was raised as a Lutheran where the Fall is crucial. Because Campbell interprets Christianity through Buddhism and vice versa and frequently identifies parallels between the languages of mythology in each religion he has become my go-to-guy on Christianity. He makes a number of interesting observations in The Mythic Image on trees, temptation, and enlightenment, which I find fitting before facing Book XI in which Adam and Eve are expelled from the garden. First of all, trees may mythically represent an axiomatic pole of the universe, which helps make sense of the trees of knowledge and life. Adam and Eve failed their test so they must be kept away from the tree of life. If we consider Buddha's story, he reaches nirvana while he is sitting beneath a tree. In his story, the tree represents a pole of enlightenment, one he has access to, which in a way is where he triumphed over death. Here the tree merges into the tree of knowledge and of life. Campbell points out that while access to the tree if barred to us, approaching that tree through your own practice is the central narrative of Buddhism. The parallel that he draws next is wonderful. Buddha is tempted by fear and desire under the tree and this is quite similar to Jesus being tempted by Satan on the mountain. (We can connect trees and mountains as symbols of centrality.) Buddha and Jesus pass their tests while both Eve and Adam fail. Eve fails because she succumbs to desire. Campbell suggests that Adam is the one driven by fear whether of God, of death, or of losing Eve. This is quite clear in Titian's "The Fall of Man" shown on p. 194 of The Mythic Image. For me, Milton's portrayal of Eve and Adam seems to reflect these proclivities respectively. In this context, I understand that Adam and Eve were not ready to taste these fruits and it brings them death.
In Book XI after they pray directly to God, he hears and accepts their request for forgiveness, which strongly communicates a protestant ideal. Michael is sent to tell them they have to leave, but will give both of them visions of their future and God's plan. When he tells them they will have to leave, Adam is in a stupor and completely shocked while Eve is immediately voluble. The fact that she can't see him may have helped her as otherwise she might have been in awe of the angel which happens to Adam. She expresses her deep connection to place, returning to a goddess or Mother Nature aspect. The flowers are described as her offspring. Michael speaks naturally to her with much more patience than Jesus did. For the rest of the book, Eve is dreaming as Michael gives Adam a vision of the parade of history up to Noah's ark and the flood for which he uses Ovid and Genesis. Michael and Adam are watching from a central mountain, perhaps suggesting the place Jesus will be tempted.
On line 412, Milton suggests the angel will remove the film from his eyes in a way that the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil could not. This event is tied to classical myth. Euphrasy and rue are mentioned as herbs that sharpen eyesight. According to the note, "euphrasy" means "cheerfulness" in Greek and "rue" is of course "sorrow." This is an example of what is so marvelous about how Milton's uses words, aware of their layers of meaning. There are a number of suggestions he follow a middle path of moderation of desires (huh, that sounds like Buddhism) on 357-367 and 553-554. There is the suggestion that their sin of eating from the tree was a result of immoderate desire and gluttony. Can't it also represent a quest for enlightenment?
There's a comical scene in which Michael shows people wooing each other to Adam. We might imagine flirtation or sex and he finds the scene pleasant, but Michael has to tell him its sinful, calling to mind Virgil's occasional admonishments of Dante.
On a more serious note, this vivid depiction of the flood is a particularly frightening metaphor in the age of global warming. The way the scene is depicted made me think of this chilling scene in an episode of an Anthony Bourdain show. He is in Madagascar with this filmmaker and they include a scene in which a Malagasy preacher is urgently telling his parishioners that God will save Madagascar from the flood if they pray.
In the final book, Michael shows Adam the rest of the story and they go and get Eve. This is an opportunity for Milton to criticize royalty and explain the existence of tyranny. In Michael's speech to Adam, we have the reversal of the hell within and consolation for losing Eden. After summarizing the famous quote from 1st Corinthians, he says, "then wilt thou not be loath to leave this Paradise, but shalt possess a paradise within thee, happier far" (585-587). Nice try, Michael. Eve is the last person who speaks in Paradise Lost. Even at the end, Eve continues to intrigue me. "Whence thou return'st and wither went'st, I know for God is also in sleep" (610-611). Finally, God speaks directly to her and she also understands the truth. We could be appalled that they made her obedient or we could cheer her on for refusing to obey or wink at God knowing he never intended to make her obedient.
"In either hand the hast'ning angel caught our ling'ring parents (637-638). "They looking back, all th' eastern side beheld of Paradise" (641-642). This story re-enacts the story of Lot.
The final line is interpreted in the notes as negative, but I guess it depends on how you feel about taking 'wand'ring steps' and a 'solitary way'.
Here are my highlights of the books up to books IX-XII where I want my focus. Sin and death as personified in Book II remind me of Grendel and his mother. The beginning of book III where Milton seems to be addressing himself to his reader is really lyrical and beautiful - the muse seems to be assisting. Book IV, lines 17-23 speak poignantly of the hell within. In book IV, there is the suggestion that Adam and Eve were vegetarians and gatherers before the fall, which is highlighted in the change that occurs when death comes to earth and alters the relationships between animals completely. In V, on line 620 a mystical dance is described of angels and spheres that I particularly liked. In book VI, I was intrigued by a comparison of rebels to titans- they are referred to in Dante too when he comes to their rung of hell. In book VII, Milton addresses the muse again, this time asking for help to stay the course and for safety and then Raphael sits down with Adam to tell him all about creation. The feeling of brotherhood was comforting but Eve's absence is troubling. On line 220 of book VII the creation story begins beautifully with God thinking and Milton using Ovid and the Bible as he continues his narration. Significantly the Earth is seen as mother in VII, line 281. "Who seeks to lessen thee, against his purpose serves to manifest the more thy might; his evil thou usest, and from thence creat'st more good. Witness this new-made world, another Heav'n From Heaven gate not far . . . with stars numerous, and every star perhaps a world of destined habitation," (614-18/621-2). Is this where the search for extra-terrestrial life starts? This line just may be the whole point of the work. "Thrice happy if they know their happiness" (631-2) - the most impossible ideal. Book VIII in Adam's discourse on the creation of Eve and his conversation with God sets up the rest of the inevitable end of the story quite well though partly by constructing Eve and woman as secondary beings.
Book IX opens with Satan struggling with accepting his choice of the humiliation of changing into a serpent and hurting these clueless humans. (Satan’s lament, hesitation, and embracing of destruction occur on lines 129-134 and 164-180.) It just so happens that on the day that Satan is ready to strike, Eve decides they should divide up the work and goes to another part of the garden without Adam. They have a long discussion in which Adam expresses fear that she will be lead astray directly if she is not with him because the angels warned them about a plan against them. She leaves his side with permission but it is grudging. Her desire to go out on her own is already a sign of defiance. This whole part of the text seems to be Milton's argument that women should stay in the home and cleave to their mates. It is not surprising he would think this, but as a modern reader it is cringe-worthy especially since her one day of "freedom" lead to "death." I mean that's heavy along the lines of the Greek myth of Pandora. (Some specific line references: 232-234 states women's proper domestic role; Adam uses language to woo her first on 239-243; Then they go back and forth with Adam explaining the danger they face on 261-269 and Eve stating that living in fear lessens the enjoyment of life on 320-340, and Adam tries again to explain why his fear is based on reason with lines 352-356.)
Eve doesn’t recognize the serpent as Satan and she thinks rationally about eating the fruit but reveals her lack of devotion to God. She reasons that eating the forbidden fruit didn’t hurt the snake but helped according to what he says and it doesn’t seem to have made him evil as he is being very kind to her. She focuses on the good it can do - leaving out the evil. She doesn’t mention that it was forbidden in her musing and Milton indicates she is also hungry as it is almost noon. Eve wonders about death but concludes she doesn’t really have knowledge enough to fully consider it. If it will feed body and mind - why not eat it? Satan is in awe of Eve's beauty and describes her as Angelic but softer and again wonders if he should really destroy her on 459–479. In his argument he compels Eve as the “Queen of this universe” to “freely taste” 684-732. He questions God’s omniscience and omnipotence and argues that true power is in nature. He also suggests that god is jealous of their ability to know and he mentions that she will be a new being-like a god, a desire that sums up his whole problem in the first place. She shows total gullibility, but of course she would. She cannot have knowledge that he is evil without knowing of evil. However, from his discourse it is clear that he doesn’t love God and surely this must seem wrong. Her decision is based on hunger, the desire for knowledge and power, and innocence. She was not made obedient. She exercised a facile level of utilitarian reason, but not a deep theological one. Once she has the knowledge, it is too late.
There is an undercurrent of goddesses and gardens and ancient meaning of serpents, connections to humanity and a certain sexual tension (505—512). Adam and Eve didn't think of the serpent as evil yet Satan invests it with a certain power on 89-96. Also, the serpent is described as beautiful and somewhat upright in a coil on lines 500-505 and 525.
That she is not afraid of the serpent reinforces an ancient connection between the goddess and the serpent. In Occidental Mythology, Joseph Campbell explains that the serpent was "revered in the Levant for at least 7,000 years before the composition of the Book of Genesis"(9). For the Sumerians, the serpent was the "consort of the goddess" as "Lord of the Tree of Truth" (9). He also suggests the serpent has taken the form of the testing god. His connection to the axis mundi would explain a serpent coiled around the tree, also found in depictions of the garden of immortality along with a central tree. Campbell suggests that in some traditions the fruit of enlightenment is a gift from the gods found in the garden along with the fruit of life. The snake also symbolizes rebirth (12-14). Joseph Campbell makes a comparison to a Buddhist tale with near East seals featuring a goddess, a tree, and a serpent. He claims "an atmosphere of substantial accord prevails at the cosmic tree, where the goddess and her serpent spouse give support to their worthy son's quest for release from the bondages of birth, disease, old age, and death"(16). Thus Christianity is overlaid on the pagan past from epic and earlier and there are moments where Milton seems to hint at this. In other creation stories, Eve could be a goddess and addressing herself to the fruit as thee seems very pre-Christian in seeing nature as divine in the following lines: “Great are they virtues doubtless, best of fruits” (745) / “to speak thy praise” (749) After eating “Of sovereign, virtuous, precious of all trees” (795) “each morning, and due praise shall tend thee” (800-1) In the notes it is stated that she shifts her song from God to the tree.
Before the Fall, Adam and Eve made love and in the notes it is suggested that Milton viewed married sex as holy. Right after Adam eats the fruit he is overcome by desire and this depiction of their lovemaking is physical and carnal, which is contrasted with references to the spiritual and selfless love of Jesus. They reveal this kind of love for each other too in Adam's eating of the fruit. He is not deceived by Eve in Milton's story. He does it because he loves her, though this action isn't considered heroic because it doesn't save her. When they wake up after sex is when they are ashamed of their nakedness. If Paradise Lost were a romantic comedy, this would be that uncomfortable scene after a drunken one-night stand revealing either the depravity of the main character or a twist in the introduction of the object of love. In his analysis of medieval allegory, Joseph Campbell sets up this equation: Male and female + love = soul (Mythic Image – 257-259).
Book X is full of pathos and drama and ends with some redemption. Milton has the scripts of the Bible and Epic to follow, so some of what I react to in the text comes from the creation myth, but what Milton does with the story in Book X is rather incredible in its cathartic effect on the reader, the working out of theology, and traditions of misogyny we inherit from the tradition and its interpretation. Adam's rancor towards Eve is a sad display of misogyny. He doesn't share his burdens with Eve though he whines about having to bear them. This again reveals the problem with patriarchy, which leads to the fall in the first place. What I mean is that God doesn’t directly address Eve until after the fall. What I loved in book X were Adam's contemplations of the mystery of life and death and the way Eve’s amazing ability to love shows Adam the way forward, and the very clever way Milton interweaves proleptic Christian themes throughout. In the notes, it is stated that Eve hints to Adam that the serpent is Satan and that leads him to understand God’s words and plan in some way, but what isn’t discussed, perhaps because it is plain to the reader, is how Eve’s expression of true remorse in prostration to him for the ill she did to Adam is what shows him how to do the same to God. Yes, this does reiterate patriarchy if looked at from a certain perspective, but it also has a deeply spiritual import.
As I mentioned, the misogyny is laid out there for all to see. This idea that woman is this odd being abhorrent to the divine is at the root of it. Even though Milton suggested earlier that spirits could choose their sex, here he makes it seem like all angels were male. The suggestion is that woman is a defective male. Aristotle suggested this. Cixous analyzes Freud as arguing the same exact thing, though it is pretty clear in Freud's work especially in his essay on fetishism. It also enacts the idea of originality in man, which Haraway defines as a myth that has done humanity, especially women, nothing but harm. This idea of male humanity coming first is one of the most ridiculous parts of the Christian creation myth as it defies older traditions of religion as well as science and ignores other facts in the text. Other animals were created male and female, earth is described as mother, feminine assumed. The idea of sin springing from Satan’s head proposed by Milton is the grotesque mirror of Eve coming from Adam’s rib but also a version of Athena coming from Zeus’s head. The connection made between sin as female and Eve is obvious and plays into this narrative. At the same time, Milton makes Eve so breathtakingly bold after the Fall. I was fascinated by Eve calmly suggesting suicide and infanticide or barrenness to avoid death or the sorrow of life. Her defiance of God is really intriguing as Milton presents it. As Adam states, “Eve, thy contempt of life and pleasure seems/ To argue in thee something more sublime/ And excellent than what thy mind contemns.” (X, 1013-15) The idea of women killing their babies has a pretty strong presence in literature written by women in cases of extremity. Theoretically Eve undergoes the pain of childbirth, but then the pain brings a new miracle of life as will be repeated by Mary to bear Jesus. Thus women are redeemed but only through childbirth. The only other reaction I had was to laugh at Adam only suggesting he will have to do the labor – as if women didn’t end up doing much of the work. Again this is from the Bible, but when God says man will do whatever, humanity is implied. They shared the work in paradise anyway.
Making fire to warm them in the post-Fall world is described as one thing God will give them to make their now finite life comfortable on lines 1070 - 1085. The reference to fire connects Eve's rebellion in a quest for knowledge to Prometheus.
I need to refer to Joseph Campbell again to put the story of the Fall in a context that resonates spiritually and philosophically for me partly because, if he is anything, Campbell is, at least philosophically, a Buddhist as am I though I was raised as a Lutheran where the Fall is crucial. Because Campbell interprets Christianity through Buddhism and vice versa and frequently identifies parallels between the languages of mythology in each religion he has become my go-to-guy on Christianity. He makes a number of interesting observations in The Mythic Image on trees, temptation, and enlightenment, which I find fitting before facing Book XI in which Adam and Eve are expelled from the garden. First of all, trees may mythically represent an axiomatic pole of the universe, which helps make sense of the trees of knowledge and life. Adam and Eve failed their test so they must be kept away from the tree of life. If we consider Buddha's story, he reaches nirvana while he is sitting beneath a tree. In his story, the tree represents a pole of enlightenment, one he has access to, which in a way is where he triumphed over death. Here the tree merges into the tree of knowledge and of life. Campbell points out that while access to the tree if barred to us, approaching that tree through your own practice is the central narrative of Buddhism. The parallel that he draws next is wonderful. Buddha is tempted by fear and desire under the tree and this is quite similar to Jesus being tempted by Satan on the mountain. (We can connect trees and mountains as symbols of centrality.) Buddha and Jesus pass their tests while both Eve and Adam fail. Eve fails because she succumbs to desire. Campbell suggests that Adam is the one driven by fear whether of God, of death, or of losing Eve. This is quite clear in Titian's "The Fall of Man" shown on p. 194 of The Mythic Image. For me, Milton's portrayal of Eve and Adam seems to reflect these proclivities respectively. In this context, I understand that Adam and Eve were not ready to taste these fruits and it brings them death.
In Book XI after they pray directly to God, he hears and accepts their request for forgiveness, which strongly communicates a protestant ideal. Michael is sent to tell them they have to leave, but will give both of them visions of their future and God's plan. When he tells them they will have to leave, Adam is in a stupor and completely shocked while Eve is immediately voluble. The fact that she can't see him may have helped her as otherwise she might have been in awe of the angel which happens to Adam. She expresses her deep connection to place, returning to a goddess or Mother Nature aspect. The flowers are described as her offspring. Michael speaks naturally to her with much more patience than Jesus did. For the rest of the book, Eve is dreaming as Michael gives Adam a vision of the parade of history up to Noah's ark and the flood for which he uses Ovid and Genesis. Michael and Adam are watching from a central mountain, perhaps suggesting the place Jesus will be tempted.
On line 412, Milton suggests the angel will remove the film from his eyes in a way that the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil could not. This event is tied to classical myth. Euphrasy and rue are mentioned as herbs that sharpen eyesight. According to the note, "euphrasy" means "cheerfulness" in Greek and "rue" is of course "sorrow." This is an example of what is so marvelous about how Milton's uses words, aware of their layers of meaning. There are a number of suggestions he follow a middle path of moderation of desires (huh, that sounds like Buddhism) on 357-367 and 553-554. There is the suggestion that their sin of eating from the tree was a result of immoderate desire and gluttony. Can't it also represent a quest for enlightenment?
There's a comical scene in which Michael shows people wooing each other to Adam. We might imagine flirtation or sex and he finds the scene pleasant, but Michael has to tell him its sinful, calling to mind Virgil's occasional admonishments of Dante.
On a more serious note, this vivid depiction of the flood is a particularly frightening metaphor in the age of global warming. The way the scene is depicted made me think of this chilling scene in an episode of an Anthony Bourdain show. He is in Madagascar with this filmmaker and they include a scene in which a Malagasy preacher is urgently telling his parishioners that God will save Madagascar from the flood if they pray.
In the final book, Michael shows Adam the rest of the story and they go and get Eve. This is an opportunity for Milton to criticize royalty and explain the existence of tyranny. In Michael's speech to Adam, we have the reversal of the hell within and consolation for losing Eden. After summarizing the famous quote from 1st Corinthians, he says, "then wilt thou not be loath to leave this Paradise, but shalt possess a paradise within thee, happier far" (585-587). Nice try, Michael. Eve is the last person who speaks in Paradise Lost. Even at the end, Eve continues to intrigue me. "Whence thou return'st and wither went'st, I know for God is also in sleep" (610-611). Finally, God speaks directly to her and she also understands the truth. We could be appalled that they made her obedient or we could cheer her on for refusing to obey or wink at God knowing he never intended to make her obedient.
"In either hand the hast'ning angel caught our ling'ring parents (637-638). "They looking back, all th' eastern side beheld of Paradise" (641-642). This story re-enacts the story of Lot.
The final line is interpreted in the notes as negative, but I guess it depends on how you feel about taking 'wand'ring steps' and a 'solitary way'.
The World was all before them, where to choose
Thir place of rest, and Providence thir guide:
They hand in hand with wandring steps and slow,
Through Eden took thir solitarie way.
Thir place of rest, and Providence thir guide:
They hand in hand with wandring steps and slow,
Through Eden took thir solitarie way.