Milton’s Paradise Lost departs from the Genesis version in a major way. Milton was not concerned about this because he believed (as Puritan) that God inspired him to embellish the story since God only works through people and not organized religion. Paradise Lost traces the events of heaven from Satan’s fall to man’s fall. Because of this ingenuity, it has been interpreted differently. Lovejoy’s “Milton: The Paradox of the Fortunate Fall”, which discusses such an interpretation, argues that the Fall introduced evil to man, but it also spread good. Milton’s texts in many respects embody this paradox. Milton shows the both the losses and gains that Adam, Eve, and mankind suffered from original guilt. Milton leaves it unclear whether the knowledge that is gained by eating the Tree of Knowledge is beneficial or harmful to mankind. The tree’s prohibition is not because the knowledge it contains is harmful, but because “it is the only remaining sign of [their] (our) obedience/Among so many other signs of power and rulership” (Paradise Lost book 4, lines 428-429). The tree is forbidden not because knowledge will harm man, but as a means to test the faith of a person. Satan claims that ignorance is the reason why man follows God: “Do they stand/Only by ignorance?” Is it their happy state/The evidence of their obedience? (4, 518-520). It is impossible for his interpretation to be true, because Adam and Eve were given certain revelations. Raphael gave them “lowly knowledge” (8, 173), but their first gain is to have more than that. Milton complicates the gain by stating that man has never needed to know more than “daily living” except for curiosity and “anxious worries”. (8, 193; 185) Milton acknowledges that Adam and Eve may have gained a small fortune as a result of their sin, but this is only a minor gain. Adam and Eve’s disobedience also brings them “Knowledge of Good and Evil” (8,324). The knowledge of good and evil is a superfluous thing, since Adam and Eve were already “sufficiently strong” to fight evil (3,99). Milton describes in Aeropageta that mankind has ultimately benefited from Adam’s and Eve’s wisdom. Milton argues that if man knows evil, he will be more tempted to do wrong. His resistance, therefore, is greater. Milton degrades Adam & Eve’s most obvious gain – knowledge – by presenting it as ambiguous. Milton demonstrates that Adam & Eve didn’t enjoy the benefits of their knowledge. Milton’s description of the man’s fall is not vague about the knowledge he acquired. God lists the man’s losses in Book Ten. Adam must work against barren earth to get food while Eve will suffer painful childbirth. Despite the fact that these punishments are harsher than what Adam and Eve had experienced, they do not seem to be particularly severe. God doesn’t mention the worst punishment directly, but it’s his fulfillment of his first threat. Adam and Eve both receive the same fate: “Thou art dust, and to dust shall thou return” (10,208). This final punishment was required to restore the order of the universe. In the belief that knowledge is godliness, when man gained knowledge, he became too close with Heaven. For them to return to their proper hierarchy, their immortality was taken away so they would be less like the angels or God. The fall forced man to die and made him suffer more. The fall of man from innocence paralleled his corruption by Satan. Satan is constantly tortured in Book 4 by the “remembrance of how I/he fell from my state” (38, 39). Adam and Eve, too, mourn their lost paradise. The corrupted world appears harsher because of it. The Bible tells us that their descendants will also suffer a loss, even though this is more painful to Adam and Eve. Milton shows us the negative effects of the fall from grace through this parallel and the punishments that resulted directly from original sin. Milton’s fall is not portrayed as purely deplorable. It has many positive outcomes. Adam’s reaction to Michael’s prediction in Book 12 is the best example of this. He is overwhelmed by “that this evil, which has produced so much good,/ Will turn evil into good. This will be more beautiful/ Than the first creation, when light was brought out of darkness.” (12, 472). Milton’s quote reveals the good that will come from man’s fall. Milton establishes that Heaven and good will triumph over hell. This response also reveals the good of God’s increased glory as a result of man’s fall, in that it gives man more reason to thank God for his creation. Michael says that there is much evil before the good. However, the salvation of the Son will bring man long-term benefit. This redemption, which is coveted, “make[s] earlier and unhappy episodes of the story appear as instruments to that [happy] completion, and in fact as its necessary condition,” demonstrating that man’s salvation would have been impossible without his fall (Lovejoy). This “God and Man unites” bringing man closer to God than in Eden (12.382). Milton shows us that the fall from innocence of man resulted in many good things. Milton does not make it clear whether the fall of man was fortunate or unlucky. Milton reveals the origin of both sin and salvation by illustrating the positives as well as negatives. Paradise Lost is not a work that supports the theological notion of felix causa (fortunate falls). This would be to ignore large portions of its content. Milton may have been blind to some of the positives that came from man’s falling, but this isn’t enough to claim he didn’t see them. Lovejoy states that “the fall cannot be condemned or lamented enough, and when its consequences are considered, they can never be adequately rejoiced about” (Lovejoy 162). Milton was therefore not trying to determine whether the fall ended up being tragic or positive, but rather to “justify God’s ways to men” (1.26). Lovejoy Arthur O. In “Milton and the Paradox of the Fortunate Fall,” published in ELH 4.3 (1937), the author examines the paradox of the fortunate fall—the idea that humanity is better off after Adam and Eve’s fall from grace—and its implications for John Milton’s work. JSTOR. Web. 7 Dec. 2009.
Benefits And Losses Of The Original Sin In Paradise Lost
