Milton Part 2: The Sum of Wisdom
Billy Schraufnagel
English 125-8, Fayen
February 15, 2000
Long Milton Paper
The Sum of Wisdom
Milton uses a unique convention of a double invocation at the outset of his epic poem, Paradise Lost. With the first invocation, of a “Heav’nly Muse” (I. 6), Milton focuses on the content of his poem: “I thence / Invoke thy aid to my adven’trous song,” (I. 13). His second appeal to heaven shifts in emphasis from Milton’s poem to Milton himself: “Instruct me, for thou know’st... what in me is dark, / Illumine, what is low raise and support,” (I. 19-23). The second invocation is more personal and includes more specific goals. Milton wants understanding for himself– he wants to be “instructed” and “raised” up. His emphasis on instruction and improvement provides a strong idea of what Milton desires for himself and the reader in writing this poem– he wants to implant (or impregnate) within us, “the chosen seed” (I. 8), a proper understanding of the word of God and the information we need to live “upright and pure”(I. 18) lives. Milton accomplishes this instruction to himself and the readers using a brilliant technique. He condenses every reader and himself into the figures of Adam and Eve, who are, after all, our common ancestors. The development of the poem can be seen as their “instruction,” in the exact manner which Milton describes in his opening invocation to “Chiefly Thou, O Spirit” (I. 17).
Milton uses two primary agents— the angels Raphael and Michael— to instruct Adam and Eve. Collectively, they provide a frame of Eden in the narrative by relating every event that has occurred before and is to occur after Adam and Eve’s experience in Paradise. Raphael tells of the past, Michael of the future. Secondly, they instruct Adam (and Eve indirectly) on God’s word and the divine plan. In doing so, they instruct the reader and, presumably, Milton himself, fulfilling his invocation. Lastly, as we witness the process of instruction and its results on Adam and Eve, Milton allows us to explore, through Raphael and Michael, the nature of instruction, ways of knowing, and ways of learning.
Before Milton introduces the central characters, Adam and Eve, he provides a synopsis of their story through the words of God the Father speaking to the host of angels in heaven: “Light after light well used they shall attain, / And to the end persisting, safe arrive” (III. 196-197). In this passage, Milton gives several important details about the humans’ process of development: first, they will be given ample opportunity and instruction; second, they must persist, implying a long, fairly drawn out process; third, there is an unspecified positive potential for them. These three facts are key to God’s plan for his new creations. This passage from Book III is essentially a concise summary of the entire forthcoming teachings of both Raphael and Michael.
Raphael’s descending to earth at God’s request directly responds to Eve’s dream and the confusion it breeds within Adam. God sends Raphael to “Converse with Adam” (V. 230) and “such discourse bring on” (V. 233). In other words, to combat Eve’s dream, Raphael must engage in conversation with Adam and discursively (using reason) transmit knowledge to him of his danger and weakness. God’s purpose for this is to strengthen Adam’s (and the reader’s) feeling of free will in Paradise: “this let him know, / Lest willfully transgressing he pretend / Surprisal, unadmonished, unforewarned” (V. 243-245).
Adam is an eager pupil. He greets Raphael with reverential awe, bowing low and apologizing for the lowliness of Eden’s fruits. In a conversational manner, Raphael immediately seizes upon Adam’s reference to fruit to begin his lesson to Adam: “whatever was created, needs / To be sustained and fed;” (V. 414-415). Thus, through discourse and converse responsiveness to Adam, Raphael broaches the topic of his instruction– growth by gradual accumulation and cultivation. Raphael’s method of teaching appeals greatly to Adam’s sensibility, and Adam encourages Raphael to teach him more “Of things above his world,” (V. 455).
This question brings Raphael to the essential content of his teachings: the way by which “body up to spirit work” (V. 478). Raphael begins by drawing from the natural surroundings of the garden to draw metaphor, a logical, rhetorical device: “So from the root / Springs lighter the green stalk... flow’rs and their fruit / Man’s nourishment, by gradual scale sublimed / To vital spirits aspire” (V. 479-484). Paradise as Raphael depicts it, then, is a living organism that is continually moving up by degrees. As part of that organism, Adam and Eve are no different: “time may come when men / With angels may participate.... Your bodies may at last turn all to spirit,” (V. 493-497).
The gradual step-by-step ascension of man is reflected in the way Raphael transmits this knowledge to Adam: through discourse, which appeals to Adam’s nature and has been recommended by God the Father as the best approach for Raphael to use. Adam proves the effectiveness of the technique by continuing the conversation: “But more desire to hear,” (V. 555). Although Raphael acknowledges the difficulty of relating deeds in heaven to Adam on earth who cannot comprehend them, the “Divine instructor” (V. 546) agrees. For the entire duration of Book VI, Raphael tells Adam of every heavenly event preceding the creation of man and Eden. When that lengthy tale is complete, Adam is still not satisfied. He asks Raphael a scientific/ philosophical question about the purpose of the stars, “Ent’ring on studious thoughts abstruse,” (VIII. 40). At this point, Raphael stops the discourse and warns Adam to not inquire about such inconsequential matters. Adam respectfully withdraws his question, responding well to Raphael’s instruction.
Through his interaction with Raphael, Adam is evidently discursive by nature: “And sweeter thy discourse is to my ear / Than fruits of palm-tree pleasantest to thirst / And hunger both,” (VIII. 211-213). In contrast, Eve does not share her mate’s enthusiasm. When Adam turns to “thoughts abstruse,” she departs, preferring to tend to her garden. In fact, from her introduction to the narrative, Milton suggests that Eve’s system of knowing and learning may be entirely different from Adam’s. Her first experience of her existence is looking at the sky’s and her own reflection in a glassy pool. Her first interaction is with herself. Through this enclosed ecosystem, Milton establishes Eve as independent, and possibly self-sustaining, or intuitive. In an early speech to Adam, Raphael describes the difference between discursive and intuitive knowledge: “Discursive, or intuitive; discourse / Is oftest yours, the latter most is ours, / Differing but in degree, of kind the same” (V. 488-490). Clearly, Adam’s nature is discursive. The angels, however, possess intuitive knowledge. Milton may be suggesting that Eve possesses intuitive knowledge as well.
Further evidence to support this claim lies in the way Eve learns about the temptation for the first time. Satan, in the form of an angel (the intuitive beings), visits Eve in a dream, an intuitive, self-enclosed forum of teaching. The subject of the dream is the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. The fruit, and Satan’s description of it, represents intuitive knowledge in the same way that Raphael’s process of fruit cultivation represents discursive knowledge. Satan, having overheard Eve’s creation story, must have sensed the intuitive impulse within Eve. Satan is himself intuitive, being a fallen angel. He has shown tendencies, especially in Book I, of his intuitive, independent nature: “The mind is its own place, and in itself / Can make a heav’n of hell, a hell of heav’n.” (I. 254-255). The combination of Satan’s own intuitive nature and his observation of Eve make him well situated to reach her in a way that neither Adam nor Raphael can. Sensing that Eve may be intuitive, Satan logically concludes that she should be among the angels, and offers her all-at-once knowledge, in the forbidden fruit, that is conducive to her nature.
Ironically, this intuitive attack upon an intuitive nature by intuitive means is the prompt for Raphael’s descent and the reader’s exposure to discourse between Adam and Raphael. While Raphael succeeds in wining over Adam, he fails to reach Eve– she leaves during the middle of their conversation. In addition, Adam seems unable to reach Eve. After she tells him of her disturbing dream, he does not quite know how to react, simply dismissing it: “what in sleep thou didst abhor to dream, / Waking thou never wilt consent to do” (V. 120-121). Eve never confirms this resolution.
This breach in communication is both more glaring and more harmful in Book IX when Adam and Eve divide just before Eve’s fatal transgression. Eve wishes to separate from Adam, asserting her independence and confirming her self-contained nature. Adam’s response reflects his desire to interact fully with and grow from his surroundings: “For not to irksome toil, buit to delight / He made us, and delight to reason joined.” (IX. 242-243). After a disjointed conversation (almost a mockery of the receptiveness between Raphael and Adam) between the two humans, in which neither side listens to the other, Adam resigns, recognizing Eve’s firmness on the matter: “Go; for thy stay, not free, absents thee more;” (IX. 372-373). In this sense, the fall can be seen not as Eve’s moral failure, but a breakdown of communication between Adam and Eve– or, more fully, a recognition of the inherent disparity between their ways of knowing and learning.
Adam and Eve’s fall from Eden may be the climax of Milton’s poem, but the “death” the God has warned is not an ending: “And of their vain contest appeared no end” (IX. 1189). This prolonged misery for Adam and Eve seems like a bleak forecast, but Milton has already set the reader up for the true meaning of “without end,” when the Son says to God the Father, “Love without end, and without measure grace” (III. 142). So we know at this point their endless “vain contest” will be tempered with God’s endless love. Besides, we know that Milton intends to “justify the ways of God to men” (I. 26), which he apparently has not done yet. The reader is left in limbo, wanting more from God the character and Milton the poet, as is Adam: “‘He will instruct us’” (X. 1081).
Sure enough, God’s “without measure grace” soon takes control. As he sends the angel Michael down to banish the unlucky pair from Paradise, God includes a consolatory proviso through Michael: “Dismiss them not disconsolate; reveal / To Adam what shall come in future days,” (XI. 113-114). This is a marked difference from his instructions to Raphael– the emphasis has shifted from showing (tasks that must be performed) to telling (the events that will occur in the future). This is perhaps evidence of the fact that Adam is no longer empowered; he has sacrificed his freedom for knowledge of Good and Evil. It would make no sense, therefore, to instruct him on what he may do in the future. The only hope is to console him by “revealing” future events with assurance that things will turn out well.
As Adam’s situation is different and God’s intent is different at the end of the poem, so is Michael’s teaching style subtly different from Raphael’s. Raphael begins his conversation with Adam over a meal, speaking of fruit and nourishment. Michael begins his overture by announcing God’s will to cast them out of Paradise. Raphael relates his portion of God’s grand narrative, history before Eden, at the end of his visit, only after prodding by Adam. Michael immediately launches into his narrative, the future after Eden. Raphael’s conversation is characterized by mutual responsiveness, with both parties feeding off each other. Michael, on the other hand, is constantly reigning Adam in and redirecting him. For example, Michael shows Adam a vision of his ancestors rife with pleasure, and Adam is greatly pleased. After Adam voices his optimism to Michael the angel responds with, “Judge not what is best / By pleasure... Those tents thou saw’st so pleasant, were the tents / Of wickedness,” (XI. 603-608). Michael continues in this pattern for quite some time, laying out the future of the human race before Adam.
Though Michael often seems controlling and accusatory of Adam, he offers hope and useful advice to Adam as to how the fall may be eventually reversed. In his narrative and explanation of laws, Michael describes a process of step-by-step improvement similar to the Tree of Life’s development from the root to the leaf: “So law appears imperfect, and but giv’n / With purpose to resign them in full time / Up to a better cov’nant... works of law to works of faith... of his reign will be no end, / But first a long succession must ensue” (XII. 300-302, 306, 330-331). At the end of his lecture-like discourse with Adam, Michael gives some last words of advice:
only add
Deeds to thy knowledge answerable, add faith,
Add virtue, patience, temperance, add love,
By name to come called charity, the soul
Of all the rest: then wilt thou not be loath
To leave this Paradise, but shalt possess
A paradise within thee, happier far. (XII. 581-587)
This beautiful speech, with its implication (“happier far”) that Adam, Eve, and the human race will grow because of the fall, is enough to “justify the ways of God to Adam,” and presumably to Milton and the reader.
The poem immediately turns to Eve, and Michael assures that she has been taken care of during his talk with Adam: “Her also I with gentle dreams have calmed” (XII. 595). Upon visiting her, Adam surprisingly finds her knowing everything that has transpired been he and Michael: “Whence thou return’st, and whither went’st, I know;” (XII. 610).Thus God, through the angel Michael, has given Eve all at once through an intuitive medium of dreams the exact knowledge that he had gradually bestowed upon Adam. This suggests both an appreciation of Eve’s nature and perhaps God’s realization that Eve deserves equal education as Adam, if by different means. The result is a heretofore unseen harmony between Adam and Eve. Milton hints that Eve will still retain her independent nature through her use of self-enfolding language even as she pledges to stay with Adam: “In me is no delay; with thee to go, / Is to stay here; without thee here to stay, / Is to go hence unwilling;” (XII. 615-617).
The last two lines of Milton’s triumphant work quietly and beautifully represent the “happier far” state that has developed between Adam and Eve during the fall: “They hand in hand with wand’ring steps and slow, / Through Eden took their solitary way.” (XII. 648-649). Two fundamentally different natures, Adam discursive and Eve intuitive, have joined through common understanding, through different means, of their origin and destination. The confusion, the miscommunication, and the “vain contest” have all dissolved, and they are left with no words. They must now perform “deeds answerable” to the knowledge they have accumulated and strive together to author the human race.
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