Adam and Eve's Relationship to Each Other and God in Paradise Lost

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Most certainly all theologians and readers of the Bible interpret Genesis' story of the creation of Earth's first human couple, Adam and Eve, as one of comedy-turned-tragedy, being that their blissful lives were shattered when Satan tempted Eve with the promise of knowledge by eating the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, the one tree in the garden that God designated as untouchable. However, Genesis does not fill-in the missing background information as to the reasons why man and woman came to be the first rational, mortal creations of God's divinity. Moreover, most believers in the Bible do not know the specific similarities and differences regarding the two humans' characteristics, and how their relationship impact each other as well as all other living creatures in the garden. These very comparisons and differentiations, upon careful reading, are made crystal-clear in the way that Milton lays out Paradise Lost Books IV, VII, and VIII.

As Christians- and any other religion relating to Christ- are told numerous times during their religious studies, or when attending Mass, that humans were created in the image and likeness of God. This testimony of a human's innate likeness and godlike image can be traced back to these lines in Book IV of Paradise Lost: "Two of far nobler shape erect and tall/ Godlike erect, with native Honor clad/ In naked Majesty seem'd Lords of all/ And worthy seem'd, for in thir looks Divine/ The image of thir glorious Maker shone" (Book IV, lines 287-291). The modeling of the first parents can be seen as a model of God's love and divinity: proving their perfections by making them flawless in flesh and spirituality, providing the necessities for their well-being, and having them mirror the roles t...

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... "Sweet converse" in the poetry and prose. [electronic version] Renascence. Milwaukee: Fall 2000. Vol. 53, Iss. 1; p. 23 (21 pages)

Kietzman, Mary Jo. The fall into conversation with Eve: Discursive difference in Paradise Lost. [electronic version] Criticism. Detroit: Winter 1997. Vol. 39, Iss. 1; p. 55 (34 pages)

Martin, Roberta C. How came I thus?: Adam and Eve in the mirror of the other. [electronic version] College Literature. West Chester: Spring 2000. Vol. 27, Iss. 2; p. 57 (23 pages)

Mikics, David. Miltonic Marriage and the Challenge to History in Paradise Lost. [electronic version] Texas Studies in Literature and Language. Austin: Spring 2004. Vol. 46, Iss. 1; p. 20 (29 pages)

Smith, Greg. Binary opposition and sexual power in Paradise Lost. [electronic version] The Midwest Quarterly. Pittsburg: Summer 1996. Vol. 37, Iss. 4; p. 383 (17 pages)

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