Essay

on the topic:
«What is the Difference Between Adam and Eve in
John Milton’s `Paradise Lost` and in the Bible
Story?»

Prepared by a student of group 2.4E,

stationary form of education
Anastasia Krytsun.

2021y.

Chapter
1. Introduction.
2. Adam and Eve in John Milton`s «Paradise Lost».
3. Adam and Eve in the Bible story.
4. Conclusions.
5. References.

Introduction
 John Milton (1608 – 1674) was an English poet, novelist and politician. He
wrote at a time of religious and political instability, and is best known for his epic
poem Paradise Lost (1667). Written in blank verse, Paradise Lost is widely
considered to be one of the greatest works of literature ever written. A second
edition followed in 1674, arranged into twelve books with minor revisions
throughout. The poem concerns the biblical story of the Fall of Man: the
temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and their expulsion from
the Garden of Eden.

Adam and Eve in John Milton`s «Paradise Lost»

The author's intention was to reveal the struggle of motives in the souls of
Adam and Eva. In their moral content, these motives are equivalent and
characterize the highest human essence: devotion and gratitude (in this case - God,
who created man) and reason and love; however, they came into tragic collision
with each other.

Eve reasoned as follows: if God created them as living people, that is,
separated them from inanimate nature, then their human essence can be expressed
only in free will. Man's free will was expressed in free knowledge of the world.
Nothing could prevent man from freely knowing the nature of good and evil.

Thus Eve came to the conclusion that her very human nature conditioned the
right to pluck the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge.

Then came the complex motivation for Adam's action. He was moved to share
the sin of His faithfulness and compassion. These best human feelings, along with
thinking, are also inherent in human nature.

Adam and Eve are portrayed in the poem as surprisingly sentimental and
overly idealized. And this is not surprising, because we are talking about the first
people who have not yet been seduced by the delights of earthly life. They only
have each other in the world, so the connection between them is very strong. They
do not think of their existence without each other. And in this they are absolutely
sincere, which is often not the case with the people of our time. To be with his wife
not only in the joy of the Garden of Eden, but also in the tribulation after the fall of
Eve, Adam even decides, consciously and not because of Satan's temptation, to
taste the forbidden fruit, knowing in advance the consequences.

"I am - let it be so - ready to die.

 The two of them learned an irreplaceable gift

Love is like being left alone in silence

Paradise? Although God will create another Eve

And from the other rib - I will not throw you,

My flesh is flesh <…> »

Then God deprives Adam and Eve of the carefree existence of thoughtlessness,
expelling them from Eden into the world of hardships and labor, and making Eden
more inaccessible to them. However, death, waiting for people outside of paradise,
is an integral consequence not of punishment, but of the breakthrough of the angel
of Death from hell to the earthly world by way, with work, courage and
extraordinary dexterity laid by Satan.

Adam and Eve in the Bible story

The Bible tells that having created the world, and with it the first man, Adam,
God settled him in Eden, a beautiful area in the East, irrigated by four rivers
(Mesopotamia). Here Adam lived in the Garden of Eden, full of magnificent fruit
trees. In the middle of the garden were two trees - one called the "tree of life" and
the other the "tree of knowledge." God told Adam, "You can eat the fruit of all the
trees, except the fruit of the tree of knowledge."

Adam lived happily in the garden of Eden, but he was alone. Then God said:
“It is not good for a man to live alone; we need to create an assistant for him. "
Once, when Adam was fast asleep, God took one side (rib) from his body and
made a woman out of him. The first woman received the name Eve (Hawa), which
meant "life."

In the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve lived happily like children, walked naked
and were not ashamed of their nakedness.

But the cunning serpent began to persuade Eve to taste the forbidden fruits
from the tree of knowledge, assuring, having eaten them, she, like God, will begin
to understand both good and evil. Curious Eve ate several fruits from the forbidden
tree and gave them to Adam to eat. And they began to understand what they did
not understand before. For the first time they were ashamed of their nakedness and
sewed themselves belts from fig leaves.
 Fearing punishment from God for violating his order, Adam and Eve hid. But
Adam heard the voice of God: "Where are you?" Adam replied, "I was ashamed of
my nakedness and therefore hid." God asked: “Who told you that you were naked?
Have you not tasted of the fruit of the tree, which I have forbidden you to eat? "
Adam admitted that he ate the fruit.

God cursed the tempting snake, and Eve said: “I will multiply your sorrows; in
sickness you will give birth to children, and your husband will rule over you. "
God said to Adam: "In the sweat of your brow you will get bread on the earth until
you return to the ground from which you were taken, because you are dust and you
will turn to dust."

For the first sin, people were doomed to labor and suffering. According to the
Bible, God drove Adam and Eve out of Eden and they had to live tilling the land.

I doubt that God felt the joy of Adam and his wife, Eve, leaving the Garden of
Eden. However, it was the only opportunity for people to understand something
about themselves, their role and responsibility for the created world.

As a result of the Fall, death enters the world. The work that used to bring joy
is now hard. Moreover, wherever we work: on the ground, in the office, or in the
factory, there will be thorns and thistles almost everywhere, which will make work
painful.

Man loses power over himself and over nature. We cannot stop the natural
elements, animals have become dangerous to man, and his emotions, desires and
bodily needs often become stronger than the voice of our mind. We know that it is
harmful for us to overeat, but we cannot stop. We know that the Internet and social
networks are stealing our time, but we continue to sit there.

Conclusions
1. In Paradise Lost, Adam and Eve have a choice. And unlike the Bible, these
heroes are not only forbidden to eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, but warned
of the wiles of Satan.

2. The author is portrayed as the main culprit, and in Biblical history both Adam
and Eve are to blame.

3. The difference in the interpretation of the essence of punishment.

 References
1.https://www.yarmarkt.ru/uk/poema-miltona-poteryannyi-rai-analiz-poemy-
miltona-poteryannyi.html

2. https://www.blog.yakaboo.ua/u-poshukah-rayu/

3. https://www.dyhdzvin.org/rozdymu/neposluh-adama-ta-yevy.html

4.https://www.ukr.school-essay.ru/poemi-vtrachenij-raj-i-povernenij-raj-yix-
idejno-tematichnij-analiz-literatura-angliyi-dzhon-milton/