Milton's Paradise Lost; Adam And Eve

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Brandon Malekie Malekie 1 Mrs. Ione Meyer English-86 February 24, 2012 Adam and Eve; Genesis and Milton The story of Adam and Eve portrayed by John Milton in his epic poem, Paradise Lost, differs from Genesis’ account as a result of Milton’s creative style being used to vastly expand it by adding “behind the scenes” dialogue between Adam and Eve and God, Satan, and assorted angels. According to the bible, God created the world with no faults or errors, it was perfection. God then created man and woman, male and female, to watch over His perfect world and to flourish in perfect harmony with Him and all his creation. In Milton’s Paradise Lost, the creation story is narrated by Rafael in book 7 and the creation of Adam and Eve is told by Adam and Eve themselves in book 8. “Two of far nobler shape erect and tall, Godlike erect, with native honour clad In naked majesty seemed lords of all, And worthy seemed, for in their looks divine The image of their glorious maker shone.” (IV.288) This quote excellently describes the marvelous creation of Adam and Eve with elegance and grace. In Paradise Lost Adam and Eve where tempted by an evil serpent to rebel against their creator by putting themselves in his place. Because they gave into this temptation, all of creation comes under an evil curse which results in suffering and anguish. In Genesis, they are enticed by a serpent as well, but it is not made clear how the serpent turned evil. It is also said that the serpent is a representation of Satan in other parts of the Bible. Christians believe man is Malekie 2 inherently good, but there is a distant being in us that causes us to become evil. An example would be fallen angels like Satan, the most notorious of them all. Fallen angels where all once good but turned their backs on God and rebelled turning themselves evil. In Paradise Lost Adam is

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