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Raphael's Inferno

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John Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost chronicles the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen archangel Lucifer. Surrounded by the idyllic Garden of Eden, the couple are provided with all the necessities to sustain the perfect life. In order to maintain this utopia, God puts forth the condition that the pair refrain from eating fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. Referred to primarily as Satan, his insidious nature interferes in the daily life of Adam and Eve; his meddling plants seeds of disobedience in the couple’s mind, enticing them to defy the orders of God. Before this betrayal, Raphael emerges in Book 5, and with God’s blessing and instruction, seeks to inform the two humans of the potential consequences of defiance. A foil to Satan, Raphael …show more content…

Regardless of the fact that Raphael is an archangel, he is one of the four created by God, and as His product he must eat in order to sustain life. Raphael takes advantage of the atmosphere created by eating together to dictate what God has sent him to say. It is after eating that Adam probes Raphael for descriptions of Heaven, and it is here that Raphael takes the opportunity to educate Adam about free will. This analysis starts with Eve’s dream, where Satan’s whispers create an ominous tone that foreshadows the ultimate temptation and downfall. God is an omnipresent entity, and as such, is aware of the dream and the negative repercussions it has. Raphael tells Adam, “God made thee perfect, not immutable” (5.524). In this sense, while Adam and Eve are divine creations, they are not immune to the persuasion of others. Then he goes on to say “He left it in thy power, ordained thy will/By nature free, not overruled by fate” (5.526-27). Essentially, God allows free will for Adam and Eve, but in order for them to exercise this right, they must be presented with a choice. The couple have the power to make the right choice, and their future is not determined by fate, but by their

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