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'Impregn'd With Reason': Eve's Aural Conception In Paradise Lost, Kent Lehnhof

English Faculty Articles and Research

"Milton utilizes in his own writings this tradition of auricular conception. Throughout Paradise Lost, Milton patterns Eve's Temptation after Mary's Annunciation, presenting the Temptation in terms of oral insemination and aural impregnation. Milton's account of the Fall in this way indicates that Eve and the Temptation are typological precursors to Mary and the Annunciation."