The Temptation of free Will in John Milton’s Paradise Lost.

John Milton’s Paradise Lost portrays the fall of humankind through the works of the fallen angel Satan. This piece is a classic epic poem which describes the fall of Satan and the other angels, the creation of the earth and humankind, and the subsequent fall of human kind into sin. At the heart of the tragic descent of God’s creations is their ability to make free decisions, free choice: “I made him just and right,/ Sufficient to have stood, though free to fall” (III, 98-99). This ability to make independent decisions is what led to the downfalls of Satan and Adam and Eve. However, there must have been an underlying source for these beings to have chosen the wrong course of action, to sin. There was an innate idea of sin born into all of God’s creations. Temptation was the vehicle by which these sins came to surface.

The original being to be tempted and to fail was the fallen angel Satan. Though, the temptation of Satan is not as apparent as with Adam or Eve, the turmoil in his mind is there none the less. Once a powerful and high-ranking Archangel, known as Lucifer, Satan’s pride and rebellion cause him to be cast down into hell. Satan is first tempted when he is given such a high position in heaven. With such power

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God’s creations had an inborn idea of what it was to sin, brought about through the temptation of others. Adam consoles Eve about the dream and tells her that the evil in ones dreams cannot be helped or avoided, but sin can be shunned if reason dispels of the evil ideas. He spoke of using reason to make his decisions: “Reason as chief; among these Fansie next/ Her office holds” (V, 101-102). Adam admits freely that his desire and longing for Eve clouds his judgment and ability to reason:

Her loveliness, so absolute she seems

And in her self so complete, so well to know

Her own, that what she wills to do or say,

Seems wisest, vertuousest, discreetest, best; (VIII, 546-549)

At this point Adam has seemingly given up his free will and reasoning, and has succumbed to the beauty and allure of Eve.

The most obvious and blatant example of temptation comes from that of Satan and Eve. He then further tempts Eve by telling her that his ability to reason and speak came from eating the forbidden fruit: “Strange alteration in me, to degree/ Of Reason in my inward Powers, and Speech” (IX, 598-599). This is almost a precursor to the final fall of Adam. Satan first tempts Eve by causing her to dream of the forbidden fruit and the pleasures of tasting it. She feels that by eating the forbidden fruit she will attain the knowledge that will enable her to command more respect from her husband: “Here grows the Cure of all, this Fruit Divine,/ Fair to the Eye, inviting to the Taste,/ Of virtue to make wise” (IX, 775-777). With these ideas implanted by Satan, Eve’s inborn evil can further be seen by her desire to become a goddess and her envy of Adam.

Eve is tempted a second time by Satan as she walks alone in the garden. This ability to choose between right and wrong was central to the fall of Satan, Adam and Eve. The temptation merely caused this evil to surface. The first human created by God and the husband and ‘ruler’ of Eve, Adam appears to be the stronger and more intelligent of the couple.

Approximate Word count = 1009
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

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