2008 - Communication Across the Curriculum (CAC)

E n g l i s h
remain, as in the words of Milton, “Adam Unparadised,” forever
(Nicholson 223). Christ, acting with divine love, offers His life in
exchange for mankind’s. In his postlapsarian state, man is offered
“the possibility of eternal life (as in Paradise), freed…from the
inherited guilt of Adam’s sin, and made ... more aware of God’s
infinite love” (Elledge 399). All of these blessings are made possible
by a generous application of free will. It is as if Milton is drawing
a comparison. On the one hand, there are Satan, Adam, and Eve,
who used their free will to the destruction of many, and then there is
Christ, who uses His free will for the redemption of many. As Irene
Samuel observes, “Without the freedom which permits rebel angel
and man to err the full wisdom and compassion of the Son would be
impossible” (477).
Now for the next phase in the cycle, man’s response to the
grace. Directly after the Fall, man and woman behave in ways that
the prelapsarian Adam and Eve would have never imagined. They
engage in fleshly sexual pleasure and then blame one another for
their mutual disgrace. Now, man must make yet another decision,
to continue like Satan on the path of infamy and rebellion, or to turn
to their Creator Marjorie Hope Nicholson traces the regeneration
of Adam and Eve. She says that through repentance and contrition,
the first couple is led to reunification (303-305). Book X features this
pivotal moment in which man may redeem himself in a way. The only
way Adam and Eve can come back to God and their relationship with
Him is through repentance. So, the two must move away from their
first poor use of free will and use their power of choice to decide to
repent. Milton describes the scene tenderly as man and wife “both
confessed / Humbly their faults, and pardon begged” (X. 1100-1101).
That which caused man’s downfall is now a way for man to return to
fellowship with God.
Finally, there is the final phase of Milton’s cycle, God and Christ’s
response to man’s repentance. Here is a pathetic picture presented
for the reader. The good, kind Creators of the world and life stand
staring down on their fallen creatures who literally lay sobbing on
the ground. They were given the most perfect existence, the most
perfect home, and all of the joy and luxury anyone could want,
and all they had to do to maintain this ideal life was to obey one
simple rule. However, abusing their divine gift of free will, both man
and woman disregarded God’s instruction and sinned the first sin in
what will prove to be a long, sorrow-filled line of many sins. Now,
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