The Fall of Man in Eve Speaks and Paradise Lost
Over the course of time, there have been many interpretations of man's fall from grace, as told by the Bible. Among the literary interpretations are those of John Milton's Paradise Lost and the American poet Louis Untermeyer's "Eve Speaks." John Milton's epic poem deals with the entire story of man's fall from grace, including background for Satan's motives.
Louis Untermeyer's "Eve Speaks" was written about Eve's thoughts, many years after she was forced to leave Eden. While both poems are derived from the same biblical root, they offer
different interpretations of man's fall through Eve's motives, her attitude toward Adam,
and her attitude toward her sin. In Paradise Lost, Eve was tricked by Satan, who assumed
the form of a serpent, into eating from the Tree of Knowledge. Satan had whispered into
her ear when she was asleep, and when he spoke to her later, he used his cunning to mislead
her:
He ended, and his words replete with guile
Into her heart too easy entrance won.
Fixed on the fruit she gazed, which to behold
Might tempt alone, and in her ears the sound
Yet rung of his persuasive words, impregned
With reason, to her seeming, and with truth;
(Paradise Lost, 733-739).
Louis Untermeyer's interpretation of Eve's motives in "Eve Speaks", were very different in
their implications. He suggests that Eve was not tricked by Satan, but instead she made a
conscious decision to eat the forbidden fruit. Eve thought that man was created for more
than living in Paradise; She was seeking for a greater world: The thought that there was
something more than joy, Beyond perfection, greater than singing peace And tranquil
happiness, vexed all my hours. ("Eve Speaks" 31-34)
Eve reached these conclusions through the traits that she perceived in Adam. He was strong
and had a brain designed to "dream and mould". According to Eve, he was designed for
"fiercer things and lustier worlds".
Another glaring dissimilarity between the two poems was the in which Eve perceived Adam.
Milton's Eve felt inferior to Adam; When Eve was trying to decide whether or not to share
the apple with Adam, one of her reasons for not sharing was so that she could be his
equal, if not his superior. After she gave the apple to Adam, her demeanor turned even
more submissive. This was in agreement with the traditional 17th century view of women.
Louis Untermeyer gave Eve a more domineering position; In "Eve Speaks", Eve acts for the
Adam was the first man that God created and was created to be the image of God himself. God planted the beautiful Garden of Eden in which there was no sin and the trees were filled with delicious fruits, everything a person would need to eat. In the middle of the garden was the “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.” One day, a serpent came into the garden and convinced Eve to eat an apple from the forbidden Tree of Knowledge. The fruit did not make Adam and Eve any better than they already were. Instead, the jealousy, the desire to eat what was forbidden—and then the physical eating of the fruit that was forbidden—allowed sin to enter humanity. God punished Adam and Eve, and all their descendants, by making their lives hard. Likewise, in the novel, peace and innocence left the Devon school and Gene and Finny's friendship, and after the winter session, discipline and hard work began. Eve eating the apple can be paralleled to Gene jostling the limb of the tree while Phineas was standing on the edge of it for in that second, both of their lives ch...
...to mankind in Paradise Lost - one of the fundamental concepts in Christianity and vital to Milton's objective to "justify the ways of God to men" (1, 26) - the gods in the Aeneid are continually reminding Aeneas that he cannot afford to be distractive by the temptresses that are women because the future of Rome lays in his hands. Milton's God, on the other hand, allows Eve to fall and her blatant transgression caused the loss of paradise and all of creation has to experience the consequences of original sin. In Paradise Lost Eve was expected to submit to her ultimate authority, Adam. Rather, it is Adam in Book IX who submits to Eve's unreasonable discourse on separation. Indeed, the implication of a man (as a superior being) succumbing to feminine wiles and passion is an intense concept which - for both Virgil and Milton - threatened the very basis of their society.
In the debate titled Of the Equal or Unequal Sin of Adam and Eve, two authors; Isotta Nogarola and Ludovico Foscarini, argue about the original sin committed by Adam and Eve. Nogarola first states that Eve lacked a sense and constancy and that she therefore sinned less than Adam did. In her case the serpent thought of Adam as invulnerable due to his constancy. God created Adam to have unchanged opinions and state of mind, in order to avoid falling into the serpent’s persuasion, however Eve’s vulnerability led her to a severe sin. God found Adam guilty for the sin because he esteemed man more highly than woman and led his command towards Adam to not eat the fruit from the tree. Weak and inclined to indulge on the fruit, Nogarola claims, Eve
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Paradise Lost is an epic poem portraying John Milton’s theological standpoints. The theme is knowledge and the fall of man. Milton uses his poem to state some of his theological beliefs and his personal reflections. Milton wrote Paradise Lost in the 17th century but uses influence from classic poets. Milton’s epic is an extremely important piece of literature. The excerpt used in this commentary takes on the subjects of sin and the punishment with regards to the atonement from God’s point of view. Milton’s states many of his own theological opinions but wants the reader to know that God is justified in everything that he does, and also wants them to know that man has free will.
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Eve’s language is drastically altered when she partakes of the forbidden fruit. It becomes permeated with blasphemy, self-praise and selfish words.
Iran was included in the territory of what was then the ancient Persian Empire. For centuries Iran (land of the Aryans) was also referred to as Persia, which was the official name until 1935. Fourteen years had passed before the Iranian government allowed the use of both names. Few groups of people today have significant history like the Iranians, descending from the ancient Persians, who possess one of the world’s richest and oldest cultures. Historically, a variety of other cultures and groups had once occupied the ancient Iranian plateau as early as 4,000 B.C.E, with little importance. Beginning by the third millennium, Persia was ruled by some of the greatest kings of all time, from Cyrus the Great to Darius the III, who turned the Persian Empire into one of the world’s greatest civilizations.
In episode IX of Paradise Lost by John Milton, Milton begins Adam and Eve’s act of disobedience towards God. The story begins with Satan’s return to the Garden of Eden the night after Raphael’s departure. Satan considers what disguise he should take on, and chooses to become a snake. Satan thinks that Earth is more beautiful than Heaven ever was, and becomes jealous of Adam and Eve. The next morning, Adam and Eve are preparing for their usual work load. Eve suggests that they work separately, Adam does not necessarily like the idea. He fears that if they are alone they can be more easily tested by Satan. Eve, however, wants to have her strength tested. Adam finally agrees. Satan, finds Eve alone and begins flattering her. Eve is amazed that
In Milton’s poem we see and feel that the character of Eve is somehow not as important as the character of Adam. This is evident in the way Adam is consulted while Eve is left to herself in times of important conversations. In Book eight, Adam says that Eve is “th’ inferior, in the mind and inward faculties.” (Paradise Lost, book 8, line 317-318) Eve is a submissive character in Paradise Lost. On the other hand, Beatrice, in Dante’s The Divine Comedy, is a strong character and leads Dante. The use of numbers is very important in Dante’s poem as the number three reveals itself several times as well as the number seven. This is not a characteristic found in Paradise Lost.
When wisdom is mixed with disobedience it opens the door for evil to abound. Although Eve was the first to take of the fruit and Adam the second, both shared responsibility in the transgression as Arnold describes it. (62;67,
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John Milton's great epic poem, Paradise Lost, was written between the 1640's and 1665 in England, at a time of rapid change in the western world. Milton, a Puritan, clung to traditional Christian beliefs throughout his epic, but he also combined signs of the changing modern era with ancient epic style to craft a masterpiece. He chose as the subject of his great work the fall of man, from Genesis, which was a very popular story to discuss and retell at the time. His whole life had led up to the completion of this greatest work; he put over twenty years of time and almost as many years of study and travel to build a timeless classic. The success of his poem lies in the fact that he skillfully combined classic epic tradition with strongly held Puritan Christian beliefs.
Although the epic poem centers around the story of the fall of man, it is interesting that Milton intertwines in this story the fall of Satan from heaven and the consequences it has not only for Satan himself, but for Adam, Eve, and the world as a whole. Milton allows the reader to see the fall from the point of view of Satan, God, as well as Adam and Eve. Because Milton gives insight into these characters feelings regarding the fall, it is no surprise that he uses “eternal providence” in conjunction with the stories of Satan, Adam, and Eve. The providence being described here is the knowledge of good and evil. However, ev...