Friday, November 20, 2009

Paradise Lost, Book 4

In book four of Paradise Lost, John Milton writes the story of Eve and Adam in the garden of Eden and how they lost their paradise, which is a result of Satan being thrown out of Heaven, hence the title. After getting kicked out of his paradise, he tries successfully to get Adam and Eve kicked out of theirs.

Milton describes Eden as a "delicious paradise," which anyone thinking about Eden, would think of as a lush garden full of trees, animals, goodness, and the delicious fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. "Our death the Tree of Knowledge grew fast by," is a reference to the fruit Eve and Adam took from the tree and caused the fall of Adam, which caused the first damnation of our species.

In the first couple of pages of book four, Satan declares "The hell within him, for within him Hell" and "Which way I fly is Hell; myself am Hell," meaning that who ever he tries to be, what ever he does, and wherever he goes, hell will follow him and be with him. He knows he can never repent and is eternally damned. He might as well try to bring others, such as Adam and Eve, down to his level.

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