Paradise Lost
In John Milton's epic poem "Paradise Lost", the issue of who is to blame for the fall of man is one that is widely discussed and argued. Since Eve is the one who acts on her own to eat from the Tree of Knowledge as she says "To satisfy the sharp desire I had / Of tasting those faire apples, I resolved / Not to defer; hunger and thirst at once"(538-541), she is usually thought to be solely to blame. When everything is sorted out later in the story, it becomes clear that Adam and Eve were equally at fault for their actions. Adam knows the dangers that eating from the Tree of Knowledge would bring, so Adam is faced with a problem. The problem is that Eve wants to split up for the day saying "Alone, without exterior help sustained? Let us not then suspect our happy state / Left so imperfect by the Maker wise / As not secure to single or combined. / Frail is our happiness, if this be so" (290-296) and Adam knows that this is a bad idea, particularly after the dream that she has described to him. They argue at great length, but in the end Adam allows Eve to do as she wishes even though he knows she is making a very bad decision. Adam also knows that his ability to reason is inherently stronger than Eve's, yet in his love for her is s
Satan hoped to get Eve alone, "He sought them both, but wished his hap / might find / Eve separate;"(371-375) because of his certainty that she is weaker than Adam, and would be easier to persuade to consume the fruit. She told the serpent "Of each tree in the garden we may eat, / But of the fruit of this fair tree amidst / The garden, God hath said, 'Ye shall not eat / Thereof, nor shall ye tough it, lest ye die'"(612-616). In this long speech Adam is pleading with Eve to see that it is a terrible idea for her to venture out into the garden alone in the mist of such impending danger. Adam knows that eating the apple is very wrong, but he does so anyway because his love for Eve is so strong will not let her suffer punishment alone. But God left free the will, for what obeys Reason is free, and reason he made right, But bid her well, and still erect, Lest by some by fair appearing good surprised, She dictate false and misinform the will To what God expressly hath forbid (296-308). Satan appealing to her vanity also may have caused her to eat the fruit as "he bowed / His turret crest, and sleek enameled neck, / Fawning, and licked the ground whereon / she trod"(477-480). It is his decision to yield to Eve that makes him as much to blame for the fall as Eve is for trusting the serpent and falling into temptation. This yielding is very similar to Eve's yielding to the serpent's deception because Adam is aware of the probable outcome of this decision. This being his decision, he eats the apple and thus disobeys the word of God and contradicts every thing he has been telling Eve that they must believe in. After Eve has been corrupted she is faced with a decision of what to do about Adam. Also, Eve knew the danger eating from the tree would bring, yet she still broke down. Adam knew what would happen if Eve went off alone but said "With thy permission then, and thus forewarned, / Chiefly by what thy own last reasoning words / Touched only, that our trial, when least sought, / May find us both perhaps far less prepared, /The willinger I go, nor much expect / A foe so proud will first the weaker seek; / So bent, the more shall shame him his repulse"(330-337). It is as though he is giving her a speech before he sends her out to battle.
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