, Research Paper

Love and Lust

In

Eden Lost

In Milton & # 8217 ; s Paradise Lost, gender is an unconditioned portion of human nature. Milton celebrates Adam and Eve & # 8217 ; s prelapsarian & # 8220 ; conjugal love & # 8221 ; ( PL, IV, 743 ) , singing & # 8220 ; Hail wedded Love & # 8221 ; ( PL, IV, 750 ) . In its proper topographic point in the hierarchy ( below God ) , sex in Milton & # 8217 ; s position is sacred and religious, sanctioned by God. Sacred sex is portrayed about as an rational act instead than a physical act, as a brotherhood of psyches instead than a brotherhood of organic structures. In contrast, nevertheless, lewd sex is associated with beastly imagination and anguished slumber. It is the stepping down of God for physical pleasance that Milton condemns. By contrasting Adam and Eve & # 8217 ; s & # 8220 ; pure & # 8221 ; love before the Fall to their enflamed & # 8220 ; animal desire & # 8221 ; ( PL, IX, 1013 ) after the Fall, Milton celebrates the thought of sex, but deplores lasciviousness and warns against the immoralities of such behaviour.

These attitudes are revealed in two cardinal scenes in Paradise Lost which depict Adam and Eve doing love and so falling asleep. The first transition, characterized by a sanctum and solemn tone, shows the prelapsarian cloud nine of Adam and Eve and their & # 8220 ; Nuptial Bed & # 8221 ; ( PL, IV, 710 ) . Adam and Eve pray to God before retiring to & # 8220 ; thir blissful Bower & # 8221 ; ( PL, IV, 689 ) showing their & # 8220 ; worship pure/ Which God likes best & # 8221 ; ( PL, IV, 737-8 ) . As Eve decorates the & # 8220 ; Nuptial Bed, & # 8221 ; & # 8220 ; heav & # 8217 ; nly Quires & # 8221 ; sing the Hymenaean ( PL, IV, 711 ) , extoling the holiness of matrimony. By stating & # 8220 ; God declares/ [ it ] Pure & # 8221 ; ( PL, IV, 746-7 ) and naming it & # 8220 ; cryptic Law & # 8221 ; ( PL, IV, 750 ) , the poet proclaims the sacredness of matrimony. Furthermore, his usage of the words & # 8220 ; artlessness & # 8221 ; ( PL, IV, 745 ) , & # 8220 ; true & # 8221 ; ( PL, IV, 750 ) , & # 8220 ; holiest & # 8221 ; ( PL, IV, 759 ) , & # 8220 ; undefil & # 8217 ; vitamin D and chast & # 8221 ; ( PL, IV, 761 ) , & # 8220 ; and & # 8220 ; blest brace & # 8221 ; ( PL, IV, 774 ) support the claim. It is of import to observe that in less than 20 lines, Milton uses the word & # 8220 ; pure & # 8221 ; four times ( ( PL, IV, 737, 745, 747,755 ) . This love is & # 8220 ; Founded in Reason, Loyal, Just and Pure & # 8221 ; ( PL, IV, 755 ) . Milton contrasts this love against & # 8220 ; extramarital lecherousness & # 8221 ; ( PL, IV, 753 ) and & # 8220 ; loveless, joyless, unindear & # 8217 ; d/Casual Fruition & # 8221 ; ( PL, IV, 766-7 ) .

In the 2nd lovemaking scene, taking topographic point after the Fall, Adam and Eve & # 8217 ; s & # 8220 ; pure & # 8221 ; love turns into & # 8220 ; animal desire. & # 8221 ; & # 8220 ; Their first act of love after eating the fruit is doubtless guilt-ridden, feverish, and eventually unfulfilling & # 8221 ; ( Aers, 28 ) . While before the Fall Adam and Eve displayed humbleness, they now display self-importance and haughtiness. With their new found cognition, they perceive themselves to be superior even to God. Therefore, they do non happen it necessary to pray to God before retiring. Alternatively, they misdirect their devotedness towards each other instead than to God. Adam wholly disregards Raphael & # 8217 ; s warning against devotion. & # 8220 ; [ H ] EE on Eve/ Began to project lewd Eyes & # 8221 ; ( PL, IX, 1013-14 ) . He sees her as a sexual object and she sees him as the same: & # 8220 ; she him/As wantonly repaid & # 8221 ; ( PL, IX, 1014-15 ) . They are no longer sharing in a & # 8220 ; common love & # 8221 ; ( PL, IV, 728 ) , but in & # 8220 ; common guilt the Seal & # 8221 ; ( PL, IX, 1042 ) . Their & # 8220 ; common guilt & # 8221 ; is the feeding of the Fruit. Lust, one of the seven lifelessly wickednesss, is their 2nd wickedness which & # 8220 ; seals & # 8221 ; or reaffirms the first.

While their sexual love in the first illustration is endorsed by God ( & # 8221 ; God declares/ [ it ] Pure & # 8221 ; ( PL, IV, 746-7 ) ) and Love is personified as an angel with violet wings ( PL, IV, 763-4 ) , there is no such heavenly approving in the 2nd transition. In fact, there is no deity nowadays at all. Adam and Eve, nevertheless, experiencing superior to God, & # 8220 ; feel/Divinity within them engendering wings/Wherewith to contemn the Earth & # 8221 ; ( PL, 1009-11 ) . The poet contrasts the & # 8220 ; engendering wings & # 8221 ; with Love & # 8217 ; s violet wings. The word & # 8220 ; engendering & # 8221 ; alludes to the & # 8220 ; extramarital lecherousness & # 8221 ; that was & # 8220 ; driv & # 8217 ; n from men/Among the beastly herds to raunge & # 8221 ; ( PL, IV, 753-4 ) . With their lubricious evildoings, they have brought back & # 8220 ; extramarital lecherousness & # 8221 ; to & # 8220 ; scorn the Earth. & # 8221 ;

The sarcasm here is that the true merchandise of this & # 8220 ; extramarital lecherousness & # 8221 ; is the human race. In this scene Milton reveals the tenseness he feels about the beginning of adult male. Adam and Eve were non the merchandises of physical brotherhood. They were created by God. Breeding, nevertheless, is a physical act of reproduction. Milton associates it with animate beings, but it is the indispensable fact of human life and Milton & # 8217 ; s disapprobation of engendering indicates his disgust at the human status. And yet, implicit there is the sense that life born from engendering is beastly, but life born from the & # 8220 ; cryptic Law & # 8221 ; ( PL, IV, 750 ) should be our true beginning. Reproduction should non be petroleum or carnal. It should be & # 8220 ; cryptic, & # 8221 ; surely non physical. It should be sensed non experienced. Sexual activity before the Fall barely seems a physically enjoyable or passionate act. It is the sacrament, instead than the act that is joyful.

Further reprobating lecherousness, the poet exchanges footings stressing pureness for 1s arousing the impression of wickedness and wickedness & # 8217 ; s effect, Hell. For illustration, he uses words such as & # 8220 ; lewd & # 8221 ; ( PL, IX, 1014 ) , & # 8220 ; wantonly & # 8221 ; ( PL, IX, 1015 ) and & # 8220 ; intoxicated & # 8221 ; ( PL, IX, 1008 ) . He even says, & # 8220 ; in Lust they burn & # 8221 ; ( PL, IX, 1015 ) , mentioning to Hell. In add-on to images of lecherousness and combustion, Milton besides uses footings of hungriness to depict & # 8220 ; animal desire. & # 8221 ; Permeating images of feeding and consuming are suiting because this transition comes shortly after the feeding of the fruit. Milton shows Adam and Eve & # 8217 ; s hungriness for pleasance by utilizing footings such as & # 8220 ; gustatory sensation & # 8221 ; ( PL, IX, 1017 ) , & # 8220 ; relish & # 8221 ; ( PL, IX, 1019 ) , & # 8220 ; Palate & # 8221 ; ( PL, IX, 1020 ) and & # 8220 ; enjoy, savoring & # 8221 ; ( PL, IX, 1024 ) . Kerrigan writes, & # 8220 ; Lust, excessively [ mentioning besides to the Fruit ] , is an intemperate repast & # 8221 ; ( Kerrigan, 250 ) . They gorge on each other until they have & # 8220 ; thir fill of Love & # 8221 ; ( PL, IX, 1042 ) , and & # 8220 ; dewie sleep/ Oppress & # 8217 ; d them, wearied with thir amative drama & # 8221 ; ( PL, IX, 1044-5 ) . Milton compares their exhaustion from & # 8220 ; amative drama & # 8221 ; to the drowsiness that overcomes one after gluttonous behaviour, another one of the seven lifelessly wickednesss.

Milton casts lovemaking in the first transition in a sanctum visible radiation, mentioning twice to & # 8220 ; Rites & # 8221 ; ( PL, 736, 742 ) . & # 8220 ; Rites & # 8221 ; brings to mind holy rites and services. Predating the sexual love is Eve & # 8217 ; s decorating of the & # 8220 ; Nuptial Bed, & # 8221 ; the vocalizing of the Hymenaean matrimony vocal and Adam and Eve & # 8217 ; s supplication to God. These events lend an ambiance of sedateness and holiness to the sexual act. Following these events are the Rites/Mysterious of conjugal Love & # 8221 ; ( PL, IV, 742-3 ) . The word & # 8220 ; cryptic & # 8221 ; appears once more in line 750, adding to the impression of lovemaking as a godly enigma or a sacrament.

In contrast, the 2nd transition has no such holinesss. Alternatively, it is loaded with words arousing images of gaiety and frivolity such as & # 8220 ; fancie & # 8221 ; ( PL, IX, 1009 ) , & # 8220 ; dawdling & # 8221 ; ( PL, IX, 1016 ) , & # 8220 ; allow us play & # 8221 ; ( PL, IX, 1027 ) , & # 8220 ; toy & # 8221 ; ( PL, IX, 1035 ) , & # 8220 ; disport & # 8221 ; ( PL, IX, 1042 ) and & # 8220 ; amative drama & # 8221 ; ( PL, IX, 1045 ) . This sex is the & # 8220 ; Casual fruition & # 8221 ; ( PL, IV, 767 ) which the poet warns us about in the earlier transition. Here, nevertheless, it is seen as ordinary and & # 8220 ; common. & # 8221 ; It is non the religious love of the first transition which merely occurs in Eden:

Hail wedded Love, cryptic Law, true sourse

Of human ofspring, exclusive propri

etie

In Paradise of all things common else ( PL, IV, 750-2 ) .

The flowers on their beds further emphasizes the & # 8220 ; expectedness & # 8221 ; of this lubricious love. In the first transition, Adam and Eve are & # 8220 ; Showrd [ with ] Roses & # 8221 ; ( PL, IV, 773 ) , cherished flowers symbolic of love. In the 2nd transition, nevertheless, they lie on a & # 8220 ; Couch & # 8221 ; of common flowers: & # 8220 ; Pansies, and Violets, and Asphodel, / And Hyacinth & # 8221 ; ( PL, IX, 1039-42 ) . Besides, the 2nd bed is no longer the & # 8220 ; Nuptial Bed & # 8221 ; of Paradise, but is now & # 8220 ; Earths freshest softest lap & # 8221 ; ( PL, IX, 1041 ) . The Fall has degraded the Godhead to the person and Earthly.

In both transitions, Adam and Eve fall asleep following the consummation of the physical act. Milton makes clear his sentiment of each case by the different tones he uses in depicting their post-coital sleeps. In the first transition,

Thesiss lulld by Nightingales imbracing slept,

And on thir naked limbs the flowerie roof

Showrd Roses, which the Morn fix & # 8217 ; d. Sleep on

Blest brace ; and O yet happiest if ye seek

No happier province, and know to cognize no more ( PL, IV, 771-5 ) .

The & # 8220 ; [ b ] lest brace & # 8221 ; fall easy to kip in each other & # 8217 ; s weaponries, & # 8220 ; lulld by Nightingales & # 8221 ; and & # 8220 ; [ s ] howrd & # 8221 ; with roses. & # 8221 ; Adam and Eve portion in God & # 8217 ; s & # 8220 ; gift of slumber & # 8221 ; ( PL, IV, 735 ) , which is reposeful, renewing and blissful. Milton adds a prefiguration warning at the terminal: & # 8220 ; Sleep on/ Blest brace ; and O yet happiest if ye seek/ No happier province, and know to cognize no more. & # 8221 ;

In the 2nd transition, nevertheless, the slumber is neither reposeful nor blissful.

The consolation of thir wickedness, till dewie slumber

Oppress & # 8217 ; d them, wearied with thir amative drama.

Soon as the force of that unsound Fruit,

That with exhilerating vapors bland

About thir liquors had plaid, and inmost powers

Made err, was now exhal & # 8217 ; vitamin D, and grosser slumber

Bred of unkindly exhausts, with witting dreams

Encumberd, now had left them, up they rose,

As from agitation? ( PL, IX, 1044-52 ) .

Merely as the sex was unsatisfying ( as they seem merely to halt because they are & # 8220 ; wearied with amative drama & # 8221 ; ) , so is the slumber. Here, slumber is non a gift from God, but something instead agonizing: a & # 8220 ; grosser sleep/ Bred of unkindly exhausts, with witting dreams/Encumberd. & # 8221 ; Adam and Eve are & # 8221 ; [ e ] ncumberd & # 8221 ; and originate & # 8220 ; from unrest. & # 8221 ; There are no peaceable, renewing effects of this slumber. They wake up every bit exhausted as earlier. The usage the word & # 8220 ; [ b ] ruddy & # 8221 ; once more further emphasizes the & # 8220 ; beastly & # 8221 ; nature of the fallen twosome. The & # 8220 ; force of that unsound Fruit & # 8221 ; has opened their eyes and darkened their heads ( PL, IX, 1053-4 ) . In the rough visible radiation of cognition, the enigma is unveiled and Adam and Eve now stand & # 8220 ; naked left/ To guiltie shame & # 8221 ; ( PL, IX, 1057-8 ) .

Another noteworthy difference between prelapsarian and postlapsarian sex is the integrity of Adam and Eve. In the first transition, Adam and Eve are united in organic structure and head. There are many mentions to their integrity such as, & # 8220 ; both & # 8221 ; ( PL, IV, 720, 721, 722 ) , & # 8220 ; we? our & # 8221 ; ( PL, IV, 726 ) & # 8220 ; common & # 8221 ; ( PL, IV, 727, 728 ) , & # 8220 ; consentaneous & # 8221 ; ( PL, IV, 736 ) . They retire to & # 8220 ; thir blissful Bower & # 8221 ; & # 8220 ; manus in manus & # 8221 ; ( PL, IV, 689-90 ) and sleep embraced in each other & # 8217 ; s weaponries ( PL, IV, 771 ) . Significantly, they let travel of each other & # 8217 ; s manus right before the Fall when Eve decides to work entirely. Their prelapsarian love is & # 8220 ; Founded in Reason, Loyal, Just, and Pure. & # 8221 ; Thus, & # 8220 ; manus in manus, & # 8221 ; they are ground and will united.

With the & # 8220 ; force of that unsound Fruit, & # 8221 ; nevertheless, Adam and Eve & # 8217 ; s integrity is severed. Will has overcome ground. Fallen, they are in a province of strife and imbalance. The lone thing they portion is & # 8220 ; thir common guilt. & # 8221 ; The cognition they have gained overwhelms them so that they do non cognize how to bridge the spread. They look on one another with shame, guilt and incrimination and take actions to divide. They seek to & # 8220 ; conceal & # 8221 ; their black portion from each other ( PL, IX, 1092-3 ) and Adam wishes that he might & # 8220 ; [ in ] purdah live & # 8221 ; ( PL, IX, 1085 ) . Before Adam deemed it better to bewray God, Himself, than live without Eve. In this transition, Adam and Eve & # 8217 ; s custodies do non of course come together. The fact that Adam must prehend Eve & # 8217 ; s manus ( PL, IX, 1037 ) and lead her to bed is notable. With this image, Milton paints a inexorable image of two lovers urgently seeking to cleaving together although they are separated by a broad chasm. The really fact, nevertheless, that they do hold on custodies elicits a sense of hope. Milton continues that hopefulness in the shutting image of Paradise Lost as Adam and Eve leave Eden & # 8220 ; manus in manus & # 8221 ; :

They manus in manus with wandring stairss and decelerate,

Through Eden took thir solitarie manner ( PL, XII, 648-9 ) .

In his apposition of the two lovemaking scenes with their singular similarities and huge differences, Milton reveals the effects of the Fall and offers a moral lesson. He describes sexual brotherhood as an inexperienced person, pure and holy joy known in Paradise. Yet, through wickedness ( first through the feeding of the Fruit and so & # 8220 ; sealing & # 8221 ; of the first with the wickedness of lecherousness ) , that pure joy is no longer found, holding been forsaken for some other cognition. Milton is non stating that sex is bad. Quite the contrary. In Paradise, sex is about a spiritual experience. For Milton, sex is glorious every bit long as it is in its proper topographic point in the hierarchy, that is, below God. It is lubricious sex in which heated, physical desire is placed foremost and God is forsaken that Milton denounces.

Bibliography

Aers, David and Bob Hodge. & # 8220 ; & # 8216 ; Rational Burning & # 8217 ; : Milton on Sexual activity and Marriage. & # 8221 ; Milton Studies XIII. Ed. James D. Simmonds. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1979.

Empson, William. Milton & # 8217 ; s God. London: Chatto and Windus, 1965.

Kerrigan, William. The Sacred Complex: On the Psychogenesis of Paradise Lost. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1983.

Le Comte, Edward. Milton and Sex. New York: Columbia University Press, 1978.

Lewis, C. S. A Preface to Paradise Lost. London: Oxford University Press, 1967.

Newlyn, Nancy. Paradise Lost and the Romantic Reader. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993.

Milton, John. Paradise Lost. Ed. John T. Shawcross.

New York: Anchor Books, Doubleday, 1971.

Aers, David and Bob Hodge. & # 8220 ; & # 8216 ; Rational Burning & # 8217 ; : Milton on Sexual activity and Marriage. & # 8221 ; Milton Studies XIII. Ed. James D. Simmonds. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1979.

Empson, William. Milton & # 8217 ; s God. London: Chatto and Windus, 1965.

Kerrigan, William. The Sacred Complex: On the Psychogenesis of Paradise Lost. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1983.

Le Comte, Edward. Milton and Sex. New York: Columbia University Press, 1978.

Lewis, C. S. A Preface to Paradise Lost. London: Oxford University Press, 1967.

Newlyn, Nancy. Paradise Lost and the Romantic Reader. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993.

Milton, John. Paradise Lost. Ed. John T. Shawcross.

New York: Anchor Books, Doubleday, 1971.