Summary
Satan, in the form of the serpent, searches
for the couple. He is delighted to find Eve alone. Coiling up, he
gets her attention, and begins flattering her beauty, grace, and
godliness. Eve is amazed to see a creature of the Garden speak.
He tells her in enticing language that he gained the gifts of speech
and intellect by eating the savory fruit of one of the trees in
the garden. He flatters Eve by saying that eating the apple also
made him seek her out in order to worship her beauty.
Eve is amazed by the power that this fruit supposedly
gives the snake. Curious to know which tree holds this fruit, Eve
follows Satan until he brings her to the Tree of Knowledge. She
recoils, telling him that God has forbidden them to eat from this
tree, but Satan persists, arguing that God actually wants them to
eat from the tree. Satan says that God forbids it only because he
wants them to show their independence. Eve is now seriously tempted.
The flattery has made her desire to know more. She reasons that
God claimed that eating from this tree meant death, but the serpent
ate (or so he claims) and not only does he still live,
but can speak and think. God would have no reason to forbid the
fruit unless it were powerful, Eve thinks, and seeing it right before
her eyes makes all of the warnings seem exaggerated. It looks so
perfect to Eve. She reaches for an apple, plucks it from the tree,
and takes a bite. The Earth then feels wounded and nature sighs
in woe, for with this act, humankind has fallen.
Eve’s first fallen thought is to find Adam and to have
him eat of the forbidden fruit too so that they might be equal.
She finds him nearby, and in hurried words tells him that she has
eaten the fruit, and that her eyes have been opened. Adam drops
the wreath of flowers he made for her. He is horrified because he
knows that they are now doomed, but immediately decides that he
cannot possibly live without Eve. Eve does not want Adam to remain
and have another woman; she wants him to suffer the same fate as
she. Adam realizes that if she is to be doomed, then he must follow.
He eats the fruit. He too feels invigorated at first. He turns a
lustful eye on Eve, and they run off into the woods for sexual play.
Adam and Eve fall asleep briefly, but upon awakening
they see the world in a new way. They recognize their sin, and realize
that they have lost Paradise. At first, Adam and Eve both believe
that they will gain glorious amounts of knowledge, but the knowledge that
they gained by eating the apple was only of the good that they had
lost and the evil that they had brought upon themselves. They now
see each other’s nakedness and are filled with shame. They cover
themselves with leaves. Milton explains that their appetite for knowledge
has been fulfilled, and their hunger for God has been quenched.
Angry and confused, they continue to blame each other for committing
the sin, while neither will admit any fault. Their shameful and
tearful argument continues for hours.
Analysis
The ease with which Satan persuades Eve to sin paints
an unflattering portrayal of woman, one that accords with Milton’s
portrayal throughout the poem of women as the weaker sex. Eve allows
the serpent’s compliments to win her over, demonstrating that she
cares more about superficial things such as beauty than profound
things such as God’s grace. Furthermore, that Eve gives in to the
serpent after only a few deceptive arguments reveals her inability
to reason soundly. Not only is she herself corruptible, however,
but she also seeks to corrupt others: her immediate reaction upon
discovering her sin is to lure Adam into her fate. Rather than repent
and take full responsibility for her actions, she moves instinctively
to drag Adam down with her to make him share her suffering. Eve
thus comes across as an immoral and harmful being, one whose values
are skewed and who has a bad influence on others.
Satan’s argument that knowledge is good because knowing
what is good and evil makes it easier to do what is good wrongfully assumes
that knowledge is always good. This flaw in his argument is the
theological thrust of this book: though the intellect is powerful and
god-like, obeying God is a higher priority than feeding the intellect.
Milton believes that one cannot first obey reason and then obey God;
rather one must trust God and then trust reason. Raphael’s wise
argument from Book VIII about the limitations of human knowledge
and the need to feel comfortable with this limited knowledge, is
blatantly neglected or forgotten. If Eve had stayed to listen to
Raphael and Adam’s discussion and had recognized the dangers of
working separately, then she could have been safer from Satan’s temptation.
Or if Adam had relayed Raphael’s warning message to Eve more thoroughly
and persuasively, and if he had denied Eve’s suggestion that they
work separately, then the fall might have been avoidable. Eve overestimates
the powers of her ability to protect herself and to resist temptation,
and Adam underestimates the need to protect Eve and share his knowledge
with her. Both must suffer from each other’s shortfalls.
