PARADISE LOST by John Milton, Book 5, Part 3

Lines 331-505

Eve awakes from her Satan-whispered nightmare deeply troubled and anxious, telling Adam the foreshadow of her part in the Fall, and the words of the false angel of light. The fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, Satan tells her,

"Forbidden here, it seems, as only fit/For Gods, yet able to make Gods of Men/ ... Here, happy creature, fair angelic Eve,/Partake thou also; happy though thou art,/Happier thou mayest be .../Taste this, and be henceforth among the Gods/Thyself a Goddess, not to earth confined."

Thus always the proud appeal of self-aggrandizing knowledge to the rational soul, imagining for itself a utopia that denies the revealed boundaries of nature.

God sends the archangel Raphael to warn Adam of his danger. Adam and Eve entertain and feed their heavenly guest, and engage him in conversation to better understand the ways of heaven. Raphael relates the disobedience and war of the rebellious angels, telling of Satan's argument that it is not just that free souls be subject to authority, that they be bound by the will of another, and that they, too, are by rights gods - the same appeal he will use to corrupt Eve.

Satan is opposed by the angel Abdiel, calling out his rebellion and ingratitude, reaffirming the sovereignty of God, and pleading for repentance while mercy may be given. He is mocked for his allegiance, and Satan prefigures Nietzsche, Karl Marx, and the modern Hegelians, denying his Creator,

"We know no time when we were not as now;/Know none before us, self-begot, self-raised/By our own quickening power ... /Our puissance is our own; our own right hand/Shall teach us highest deeds, by proof to try/Who is our equal."

Book five closes as Abdiel flees the Apostate horde to take Satan's message and plans back to God's throne.

Paradise Lost Book 5 Summary & Analysis | LitCharts

This is an excellent summary and commentary on each of the books in PARADISE LOST. I strongly recommend reading these commentaries over as you listen to our readings of this great poem!

 

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