Paradise Lost
by John Milton
Table of Contents
Book 11 and 12
Book 11 Summary
God hears the prayers of Adam and Eve. The Son feels pity for the humans and appeals to his Father to show them mercy. The Son promises to compensate for man’s failings through his own mortality and death. Although the Father accepts the Son’s sacrifice, he nonetheless rules that Adam and Eve must leave paradise and experience pain and death. They may be redeemed if they live good lives, however, and have the opportunity to spend eternity in Heaven. God sends the archangel Michael to Earth to cast Adam and Eve out of the Garden.
Through prayer, Adam and Eve have found comfort and they begin to have a more positive attitude about their situation. Adam rejoices that Eve will be the mother of mankind and that her children will one day defeat Satan. Because she is responsible for bringing Sin and Death to Eden, Eve feels unworthy of this privilege. She says that she will be content, however, to live out the years remaining to them in Eden. When Michael arrives and informs the humans of their eviction from Eden, Eve is grief-stricken over the loss of her beautiful flowers and everything else that she loves. Adam accepts their fate with more grace, but expresses his concern that they will be unable to communicate with God outside of Eden. Michael comforts Adam with the assurance that God is everywhere and that they can always communicate with him through prayer.
Michael blesses Eve with sleep and takes Adam to the top of Eden’s highest hill in order to show him mankind’s future. First, Adam witnesses the murder of his son Abel at the hands of his other son, Cain. Then follows a demonstration of all of the horrible ways in which humans will die. Adam is deeply affected by the violence and pain he sees, and wonders if death must always be so brutal. Michael tells him that those who live well and obey God have the opportunity of natural death, late in life. Next, Michael shows Adam a village of people working with metal and playing musical instruments. Men go into tents with beautiful women. Adam admires...
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