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Paradise Lost Allusions

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In the play "Paradise Lost,” John Milton guides the audience through Satan’s journey of revenge against God. After Satan falls from Heaven and learns about Earth, he becomes determined to corrupt humanity with sin and evil. In Act 9, Milton analyzes Adam and Eve after Satan successfully executes this plan by tricking Eve, and by extension, Adam into eating an apple from the forbidden tree of knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve shift their thoughts and actions towards each other once their protection of innocence falls away. Milton depicts Adam and Eve’s, and therefore all of humanity’s downfall through syntax, allusion and enjambment.
Milton begins the passage by stating how the two ventured to a “shady bank” to engage in sexual activities. …show more content…

Samson was once a great Israelite warrior and leader but after succumbing to Delilah’s scheme, he fell from power. She persuaded him to show her the source of his strength, and once he did, she betrayed him by having his hair cut off. His fall from greatness compares to Adam and Eve’s annihilation as they were also tricked. Satan’s hoax caused the two to lose the strength of their bond with God, as Samson lost his physical strength. The audience is better able to understand the devastation that this lost connection has by relating to a well-known myth. Just as Samson lost everything, so did Adam and Eve. While the effects are not as obvious right away, the allusion allows readers to understand the lengths of damage that Eve’s trust in the snake was. Milton closes out the excerpt with an enjambment similar to the one earlier in the passage. He states that they are “destitute and bare / Of all their virtue.” The enjambment, once again, emphasizes the double meaning of bare, because not only are they physically naked, they are bare of their nobleness and morality. However, the ending enjambment is much more powerful because he bluntly states that Adam and Eve have lost all their decency, which is everything that God values. He does not leave it to question that they were able to salvage any pieces of their worth, and have been reduced to simple dishonorable creatures. These actions reflect and trickle down to

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