Hello and welcome to the Discourse. The first version of Paradise Lost was published in 1667 and it contained 10 books. Later on, Milton published the second version in 1674 with 12 books or parts. While the central story of Paradise Lost is Man’s Fall, Book 11, and Book 12 were added to justify the story by explaining the logic behind the events of previous books. God is omnipotent and omniscient. God created Lucifer with a nature prone to pride and that led to Satan’s fall. Satan accuses God created him with a nature that was prone to pride, and, therefore, destined to fall. God created Adam and Eve prone to vanity and passion. It appears as if God planned the fall of Satan and Man both. The poem suggests that God knew Lucifer, Adam, and Eve all will fall at their turn. Thus, the rebellion of Satan against God appears as if it is a struggle against a tyrant. However, if God planned Satan’s fall, he knew Satan would rebel. So the question arises if Adam and Eve and Satan were all predestined to fall, are we, as well, destined to act by our natures in a way that God has already ordained? Eve and Adam disobeyed God by taking the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, but was it such a great crime that deserved banishment, guilt, and death?
Milton began Paradise Lost by suggesting that his main aim with this work is to explain and justify the ways of God to man. In book 11, Milton offers justification for the acts of God. On one hand, Satan blames God as a tyrant against whom he rebels, on the other hand, Milton explains how Satan was wrong, how hierarchy is good, and how God’s actions are justified.
Summary of Book 11
Inspired by God’s grace, Adam, and Eve begin praying again. As God hears their prayer, the Son appears and suggests that God should show mercy and forgiveness to Adam and Eve. The Son further says that he will relieve Adam and Eve of their sins through his incarnation and death as a human. The Father agrees that Adam and Eve deserve mercy but He says that Adam and Eve can no more live in Paradise. He then calls a meeting of all angels and announces His decision. He says that now when Man is impure, Adam and Eve must be banished from Paradise. However, God says that through their prayers while leading a good and moral life, Adam and Eve may again be reunited with God after their death.
God then asks Michael to visit the earth and announce His decision to Adam and Eve in such a manner that it may not break their hope. He allows Michael to let Adam see a vision of the future to understand God’s decision in a better manner.
On Earth, Eve is still pensive and depressed but Adam anticipated that their prayers have reached to God and He will show mercy on them. He reassures Eve and says that she will be able to seek revenge against Satan, the serpent. Eve is still feeling guilty about bringing Sin and Death to earth. She believes that she doesn’t deserve to have such a role in God’s planning. Like Satan, Eve has some complaints against God as she knows that whatever happened, happened because God allowed it. Yet, she says that she will try to obey God to the mark and live peacefully in Paradise while accepting her fate.
Michael arrives on earth and meets Adam and Eve. He tells them all about the decision of God and tells them that they cannot live in Paradise anymore. Listening to this, Eve starts crying and Adam feels saddened and hopeless. Eve worries that she will have to leave the Garden, the flowers, fruits, and animals, the river bank where she met Adam, and the bower where they used to spend their nights in love. Adam on the other hand is sad because he feels that this decision will make him further away from God and he will no longer be able to communicate with Him. Michael soothes them and says that God is everywhere and Adam and Eve will be able to pray and communicate with God even after leaving Paradise, wherever they go. Michael says that Adam is the king of the whole earth and not just of Paradise. He says that Adam and Eve may go anywhere on Earth after leaving the Garden.
Eve is hopeless and continues to weep. Michael soothes her further and puts her to sleep. He then takes Adam to the top of a high hill to show him the vision of humankind’s future. The mountain was so high that Michael and Adam could see almost the entirety of the earth’s hemisphere. Adam sees two men offering sacrifices. Michael explains that these are Caine and Abel, firstborn sons of Adam and Eve. Adam shockingly sees that Caine murders Abel and he is filled with remorse. Death of Abel in his vision was his first experience of Death. Michael then shows Adam the other ways in which death will attack humankind. Adam sees images of disease, war, and old age. Adam worries about his own death and asks if there is any other alternative to death? Michael says no but he says that obeying God and leading a virtuous life can allow people to live long and fruitful life till God permits.
Adam sees a group of men and women dancing, enjoying, playing games, and having amorous courting. Adam feels better while seeing this. However, Michael explains that these people are atheists who live for pleasure and deny God. Michael says that these people will also be devoured by death. Soon Adam sees scenes of huge wars, the plundering of cities, mass murders, and slaughtering of men and women. Michael says that violent men will praise war while many horrendous conquerers will be praised as war heroes. Michael then says that there will appear a man named Enoch who will try everything possible to stop and end these wars. Other people will despise him and will try to kill him but God will protect him and take him safely to His abode.
The vision further reveals the effect of Sin and Death as Adam sees men and women dancing and engaging in violent sexual activities. Adam feels some guilt as he remembers how he used Eve after taking the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. Michael says that there will be an era where sins of the flesh will strengthen. Adam sees a single man preaching against these immoral acts but nobody hears him. The man then goes to the mountains and reaches the highest peak along with his family and various sorts of animals. The man then makes a boat and soon great floods engulf the ground. Michael explains that the man who builds the boat will be Noah who will take all species of animals along with his family to a safer place while rest of the humankind will suffer death due to the great flood. Adam further sees that the clouds get clear and the flood comes down as God appears and greets Noah. God promises that He will never again destroy the earth by flood. Adam feels relieves and satisfied as he comes to know that Noah will make it sure that virtue and obedience to God will continue on earth.
Analysis of Book 11
Milton again clarifies the hierarchy in his world. God sends Michael to let Adam have the vision and Michael puts Eve to sleep before he reveals the future to Adam. Obviously, Eve is below the rank of Adam. In previous books too, whenever archangels talked to man, they chose Adam in absence of Eve to discuss any serious matter. Similarly, God Himself appeared and spoke to Adam after creating him. However, when God created Eve, He didn’t visit her after she gained consciousness. She just heard a celestial voice and direction to proceed.
Adam and Eve now understand that obeying God is the only virtuous path. Eve laments her role as the cause of Sin and Death in the world. However, she complaints that she deserved a better role in the design of God. Thus, Eve realizes that nothing could happen against the will of God, nor anything will happen against it in the future.
The other part of Book 11 deals with the visions of the future shown to Adam. The vision proves that everything is destined and though it appears as if human free will is some force to reckon with, however, in absence of God’s guidance, inspiration, or command, Adam and Eve could do nothing good, nor bad. God inspired Man to repent and pray for forgiveness and salvation, it was God’s plan for the birth of His Son on earth. God didn’t inspire Lucifer to repent and let him be cursed as Satan, a victim of his own pride. This is because for a hero as His Son, a tremendous villain was required to be defeated and who could fill the bill better than Satan?
Adam sees Caine and Abel and how Abel was murdered by his own brother. He further sees how war will cause the death of millions, and during all these saddening pictures of the future, he sees Epoch bringing a ray of light to the world. He sees how men and women will indulge themselves in merry-making and carnal pleasures and though he feels good while seeing this, thus, suggesting his own weakness against passion. But Michael informs him that these people will also suffer horrendous death because they are atheists who care more for their own pleasure and deny God. Adam also learns about the death of good men following the virtuous path who fall like ripe fruit after attaining certain age that God permits. While seeing all these effects of Sin and Death that Adam and Eve brought to the world, Adam sees rays of hope and redemption through the examples of Epoch and Noah. The whole sequence of visions contains a careful emotional balance between grief at the corruption of sin and joy at the redemption of the moral person. The vision will continue in book 12. There is a stark difference between the tone and the way Angels communicate with Adam before and after the fall. Before the fall, Angels were more intimate and careful towards Man, after the fall, Angels instruct, and the man listens. This is about Book 11 of Paradise Lost. We will continue to discuss the history of English Literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards.
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