English Language and Literature Commons^™

Of Milton’S First Disobedience And The Fruit Of The Tree: “Ad Patrem” As Prologue To Paradise Lost, C. Macaulay Ward Jr

Interdisciplinary Perspectives: a Graduate Student Research Showcase

In Paradise Lost, first published in 1667, John Milton assumes the role of God’s advocate to make the case that God’s decrees are beyond reproach; humankind’s eternal death sentence and the banishment from Eden, issued as a result of Adam and Eve’s disobedience, are not excessive punishments. Twelve books and nearly ten thousand lines later, however, Milton’s argument seems to contradict itself. The Archangel Michael tells Adam that in the fullness of time, a new Paradise will be established as a place of joy and wonder far superior to the original Eden; and ironically, this wondrous ending is an …