This paper analyzes John Milton's Paradise Lost as a cautionary tale about the consequences of disobeying God. It traces three key instances of defiance — Satan's failed revolt against Heaven, Eve's temptation by the serpent, and Adam's willing consumption of the forbidden fruit — and examines how each carries distinct moral weight. Drawing on scholarly commentary by Diana Benet, Francis Blessington, and others, the paper argues that Milton's central concern is not sin itself but the willful choice to ignore divine authority. The contrast between Satan's unrepentant pride and Adam's remorse, and between Satan's rebellion and Christ's obedience, illuminates Milton's broader argument that free will makes disobedience a form of self-imposed damnation.
John Milton's Paradise Lost tells the story of Heaven and Hell both before and after Adam and Eve fell from grace. At the center of Milton's epic poem is the character of Satan, a being who has been sent to the underworld to live in agony forever after trying and failing to seize control of Heaven from God. Satan will spend the rest of eternity amid the demons and monsters that inhabit his new realm. As he was punished for disobeying and daring to challenge God, so he wishes to damn all of God's creations in kind.
Mankind is God's newest creation and thus the subject of Satan's diabolical machinations. Before, God had made angels and other celestial beings that were extremely powerful and could therefore pose a challenge to Him. With man, God took a different approach. Instead of endowing his creation with great power, He gave man relatively less strength and far fewer abilities — a design intended to prevent his newer creation from following Satan's example. However, man is also given free will, which proves to be his undoing. Instead of brute strength or supernatural abilities, man is given the ability to choose to obey God or to ignore Him. It is precisely this free will that Satan exploits, leading to Adam and Eve's fall.
Through the cases of Satan and, after him, Adam and Eve, Paradise Lost proves to be a cautionary tale about the dangers of disobedience to the word of God.
The first instance of disobedience to God is found in the character of Satan. It is revealed early in the poem that Satan has attempted to take over the realm of Heaven from God — an attempt that was, of course, unsuccessful. In this early portion, Milton creates a Satan who is at once somewhat remorseful for his actions and also vengeful and angry (Johnson 1). His remorse does not stem from any belief that he has done something wrong, but from the fact that his goal to conquer Heaven was unsuccessful. His regret is simply that he is forever in Hell and will never be allowed to return to the kingdom of Heaven.
The second instance of the detrimental effects of disobedience to God is the tragedy of Adam and Eve. In Milton's Paradise Lost, Eve is tempted to eat from the forbidden apple tree by a serpent who is really Satan in disguise. Even though she is aware that God has ordered that neither she nor Adam eat from that particular tree, Satan appeals to her vanity and her frailties as a human being. In the end, not only does Eve take a bite of the apple, but she then convinces Adam to eat the forbidden fruit as well.
Adam and Eve are completely innocent creatures when they are first introduced. Milton writes, "Flours of all hue, and without thorn the rose" (4.256). They are beings of perfect beauty without even the slightest imperfections. In the world of the present moment, nothing is perfect — even the most beautiful rose has a thorn, and even the most beautiful person has a flaw. By disobeying God, this most perfect version of the world has been forever taken from all of humanity.
After Eve consumes the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, she questions her actions and whether God can forgive her. Although still of an innocent mind, Eve is able to ascertain that her action was wrong because it was in defiance of God. However, this does not prevent her from convincing Adam to join her in what will ultimately be the downfall of both herself and her mate, and all their future offspring. According to Zak Grimm, this portion of the poem demonstrates that Milton believed that even though Eve was aware she had disobeyed God and understood the potential consequences of her action, she is unable to keep herself from sharing her destiny with her mate (Grimm 2).
Their punishment for disobedience is the cruelest that God can impose. The Garden of Eden was a place where man and woman's every desire was fulfilled. After their disobedience, all the wonders they had known in the enchanted garden are stripped from them. Not only are they forced to toil and labor, but they are deprived of the direct contact with God that they had known before. Angry at God for the beauty that has been created in the Garden of Eden, Satan asks:
Do they only stand
By ignorance, is that their happy state,
The proof of their obedience and their faith? (Milton 4.518–520)
Satan believes — and is proved right — that Adam and Eve obey God's decrees only because they do not yet realize they have another option. Once the idea that they can make choices contrary to God's wishes is introduced, Eve and then Adam are all too ready and willing to eat from the forbidden tree.
"God distinguishes coerced sin from willful rebellion"
"Christ's obedience contrasted with Satan's pride"
Anderson, Gary A. "The Fall of Satan in the Thought of St. Ephrem and John Milton." Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies 3.1 (2000). Print.
Benet, Diana Treviño. "Adam's Evil Conscience and Satan's Surrogate Fall." Milton Quarterly 39.1 (2005): 2–15. Print.
Blessington, Francis. Paradise Lost: A Student's Companion to the Poem. Lincoln, NE: Twayne. Print.
Grimm, Zak. "Free Will, Eternal Providence, and Knowledge in Milton's Paradise Lost." 2008. Web. Nov. 2011.
Johnson, Ashley. "Satan's Envy Through Paradise Lost." Association of Young Journalists and Writers. Print.
Milton, John, and Barbara Kiefer Lewalski. Paradise Lost. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2007. Print.
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