Milton re-creates the Bible account of Adam’s and Eve’s disobedience in eating the forbidden fruit. God gives them free will to choose how to behave and the power of reason to help them make correct choices. The questions Milton forces us to ask set a moral agenda for us today.
Duncan Baxter
Authority. Eve asks why she is forbidden to work alone in the Eden, Satan asks why God places limitations on our knowledge, Adam must choose between obeying God and eating the fruit Eve offers. Whether it is the law or a boss we must think carefully before we disobey.
Ambition. Adam and Eve are given defined lives, progressing to be angels only when God decides. Why are there limits on what they may know, on Eve’s status as a woman and her ideas to improve their work rate? That people’s talent should not be suppressed must influence our decisions on equality, education and social mobility.
Relationships. Adam allows Eve to go off alone, disobeying God, to let her develop as a person. He eats the fruit she offers because he loves her and wants to share her punishment. When do parents give teenagers freedom? When do we delegate complex tasks to others? Trust and love go together.
Judging others. Milton shows the best and worst sides of characters. Adam is not just a weak husband. Eve is not merely a stupid woman. Satan is not all bad – he shows courage, imagination, leadership, while God has some unlikeable characteristics. We learn not to judge by appearances and reach balanced conclusions.
Identity and self worth. Adam, Eve and Satan have ambitions but it is their motivation that matters. Adam is curious to know more, Eve wishes to be taken seriously with her ideas, while Satan is ambitious for authority. We see that motivation is central to understanding people’s actions. Adam and Eve make wrong decisions, but based on commendable ideals, while Satan’s ambition derives from lack of self worth and a need to be admired.
Reason. Milton believed in education, the power of the intellect guiding us to correct moral decisions. Adam and Eve show that other factors are strongly influential. We are prompted to ask whether there is any difference between misusing reason and unreasonable thinking. What about people who do not possess intellectual capacity, and who decides what the measure is? Should politicians take intelligence tests? And what is the status of emotional intelligence?
God. Milton’s God demands worship and obedience, yet says he allows free will, despite intervening in events, and complains at mankind’s ingratitude. In attempting to “justify the ways of God to men” Milton’s portrayal does little to defend God, whereas he succeeds in ‘justifying the ways of men to God’ by his sensitive portrayal of other figures, encouraging readers to explore spiritual and moral matters.
Free Will. God’s oversimplification of mankind’s ‘free will’ reminds us to take account of all factors which may influence our actions and characters. Upbringing, education, finance, ethnicity, opportunity and chance being some of them.
Who are we? Our lives are different from Milton’s, yet despite our knowledge of space the mystery of the cosmos, which Adam and Eve attempted to understand, remains. Where do we come from? Are we going anywhere? Is there a good Creator? What happens if we destroy our planet? Milton forces us to think about our place in the scheme of things.
