Paradise lost – pride

‘Pride goeth before the fall’ Proverbs 16: 18 In Milton’s “ Paradise Lost”, Adam and Eve might be considered tragic ” heroes” in the sense that they knowingly doom themselves to be removed from Paradise, and are thus subjected to the harsh, new world, and yet persevere with the hope for a better future. What makes their act of sin almost tragic in a way as compared to Satan, is that Satan’s act was meant out of spite and hate for the God.

He seeks to destroy in one day that which took six days to create. Neither Adam nor Eve intended on for anything such as this to occur, but instead hoped to achieve a greater state of understanding and being. Satan realized that he would not be able to catch both of them, so he tempted Eve when she was alone. When Eve was asked by the serpent, she replies that the one restriction placed upon her and Adam was that ” the fruit of this fair tree? e shall not eat thereof, nor shall ye touch it lest ye die”. When he explains to her that she would not actually ‘die’, but instead become such as God, it appealed to her desire to be equal to or more powerful than Adam, and so she fell. Although she, like Satan, fell because of her prideful aspirations and was condemned to be placed under her husband, she confesses her sin, and so she is able to, unlike Satan, move past her pride by admit her fault.

Adam also ate of the forbidden fruit, knowing full well that was against the will of God, chose to do so anyhow due to his love for Eve thus causing him to fall as well. What makes Adam & Eve ” heroic”, from Milton’s perspective, is their ability to admit their sin against God as being wrong, and their willingness to take responsibility for their actions. They do not walk away from God; they instead look to persevere with the hope for a better future, “ Thus they in mutual accusation spent/… but neither self-condemning;/And of their vain contest appeared no end”(1187-89).