A N D R E W A U LT M A N
I N T E R N AT I O N A L S T U D I E S P R O G R A M U N I V E R S I T Y O F W Y O M I N G
H O N O R S P R O G R A M
A
LL OF THIS HAS HAPPENED BEFORE
,
AND
WILL HAPPEN AGAIN
: A
LITERARY
COMPARISON OF
P
ARADISE
L
OST AND
P
ARADISE
INTRODUCTION
• The Biblical account of humankind’s fall from grace and exile from paradise is a familiar story.
• Milton’s interpretation of humanity’s loss of paradise is modernized in the 2003 reimagining of the 1978 television series Battlestar Galactica.
• The unifying similarity between this unconventional pair of narratives is the notion that Paradise is lost through rebellion against God’s will, but that it is then regained through
TEMPTATION
• In Paradise Lost, Eve is deceived by Satan, in the form of a serpent. • He speaks to her and compliments her beauty, likening her to a
goddess.
• She marvels that this beast of the field can speak, and asks how he came to have the ability.
• Satan replies that, “on a day roving the field,” he came across a beautiful tree laden with fruit. The fruit was so tempting that he resolved to partake of it.
TEMPTATION
(CONT
.)
• He reveals to Eve that, upon eating the fruit of the tree, he
perceived an alteration within himself, an intensification of his power of reason.
• Eve is amazed by the serpent’s tale and asks him to lead her to this tree so that she may see that of which he speaks.
• When Eve discovers that the tree of which the serpent spoke is in fact the Tree of knowledge she tells the serpent that they
could have spared the journey, as God has told both her and Adam that they would die if they were to tough the Tree or eat of its fruit.
TEMPTATION
(CONT
.)
• However, Satan replies that she won’t die, as he as both touched the Tree and eaten its fruit yet still lives.
• He even implies that God wants Eve to eat the fruit, that He would reward her Eve for her “dauntless virtue.”
• Satan’s deceitful but flattering words win Eve over, and so she eats of the fruit.
• Knowing that his malicious purpose has been fulfilled, Satan withdraws into the thicket.
DISCORD
• Eve returns home to Adam and tells him that the serpent has eaten the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge and has not died, but rather
gained sapience.
• She further tells Adam that, at the serpent’s insistence, she has also eaten the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge.
• Adam realizes in despair the gravity of what Eve has done, bringing ruin upon the both of them, for he choses to live in sin with Eve
rather than remain obedient to God and return to his solitary existence without her.
• He grudgingly accepts the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge that Eve has brought him.
DISCORD
(CONT
.)
• A short time later, Adam comprehends the full magnitude of what he and Eve have done.
• They recognize the shame of their nakedness for the first time, and so search for leaves with which to clothe themselves.
• Adam accuses Eve, blaming her for their now-fallen state, but she reproaches him in kind.
• Each blames the other, but neither Adam nor Eve is willing to accept responsibility for what has happened.
SENTENCING
• In Heaven, God is immediately aware of Adam and Eve’s
transgression and sends His Son to deliver judgment upon them.
• Jesus enters the Garden of Eden and calls to Adam. He and Eve come forth reluctantly, ashamed of their nakedness.
• When the Son asks how they came to possess knowledge of their nakedness, the two confess their sins.
• Upon hearing Eve’s confession and accusation of the serpent, Jesus deliver’s his father’s judgment.
SENTENCING
(CONT
.)
• The Son first sentences the serpent to forever crawl along the ground, eat dust, and bite at the heel of man.
• He then declares to Eve that, “Thy sorrow I will greatly
multiply / By thy conception; Children thou shalt bring / In sorrow forth, and to thy Husband’s will / Thine shall
submit…”
• Jesus tells Adam that, “In the seat of thy Face shalt thou eat Bread, / Till thou return unto the ground…”
SENTENCING
(CONT
.)
• Their sentence set before them, Eve and Adam lament their imminent loss of paradise. Discord erupts between them as Adam is overcome by his fear and anger.
• Eve attempts to console him, but he rejects her and curses her existence, wondering why God even created her.
• Eve throws herself down at Adam’s feet and begs his forgiveness.
RECONCILIATION
• Although spurned by Adam, Eve continues to seek his
forgiveness. She implores him not to forsake her, and asserts her sincere love for him.
• Eve remarks that even though they both have sinned, Adam has sinned only against God, whereas she has sinned against both God and Adam.
• She tells Adam that, if she could, she would accept his
RECONCILIATION
(CONT
.)
• Adam relents and tells Eve, “..let us no more contend, nor blame / Each other…”
• He then suggests that they should pray and repent for their sins.
• God hears Adam and Eve’s prayers and chooses to show them mercy. He sends the archangel Michael to show Adam a
RECONCILIATION
(CONT
.)
• Michael reveals to Adam the sin and decadence of future
generations brought about by his and Eve’s rebellion against God.
• Adam is horrified by the path his progeny will take until Michael shares with him a glimpse of God’s plan for
humankind’s redemption.
• This revelation of salvation and triumph over sin gives Adam hope for the future of humanity, but with this brief vision of the future Eve and Adam must now face their exile. Hand in hand they slowly make their way out of Paradise and into their strange new world.
REDEMPTION
• Even before Satan makes the decision to seduce Eve, God sees him approaching Paradise from His seat in Heaven and knows what will come of Satan’s intrusion into Paradise.
• He turns to His Son and prophesies mankind’s fall from His grace.
• While God declares that the fault for Adam and Eve’s
transgression against Him lies solely with them due to the free will He instilled them with, He chooses to offer them mercy as their disobedience is a result of Satan’s influence, unlike the deliberate choice made by Satan and his followers.
REDEMPTION
(CONT
.)
• However, God notes that a sacrifice must be made to atone for mankind’s sins.
• The Son freely offers himself as this sacrifice to secure
humanity’s future, telling His Father, “Behold mee then, mee for him, life for life / I offer, on mee let thine anger fall…”
FIRST
TEMPTATION
• The Son of God enters a desert to pursue his “holy
Meditations” and fast in solitude for forty days, but as his
sojourn nears completion Jesus happens upon “an aged man in Rural weeds,” who is in fact none other than Satan in disguise.
• Satan entices Jesus to break his fast, but the Son sees through his disguise and scorns him, saying, “Why dost thou then
suggest to me distrust, / Knowing who I am, as I know who thou art?”
F
IRST
T
EMPTATION
(C
ONT
.)
• Satan and the Son engage in a dialogue, but as night
approaches Jesus ends their conversation and tells Satan, “Thy coming hither, though I know thy scope, / I bid not or forbid; do as thou find’st / Permission from above, thou canst not more…”
• At this Satan takes his leave, disappearing into thin air. He
returns to Pandemonium, his dwelling place in with his host of fallen angels, to hold a council to determine how best to
SECOND
TEMPTATION
• Unable to tempt Jesus with food, Satan offers the Son wealth with which to buy power or the chance to become a glorious conqueror, both of which he declines.
• Still unwilling to concede defeat, Satan implores the Son to allow zeal and duty to motivate him to free his country from “her Heathen servitude.”
• However, Jesus again frustrates Satan’s efforts, saying, “All things are best fulfill’d in their due time…”
S
ECOND
T
EMPTATION
(C
ONT
.)
• His efforts stymied, Satan whisks the Son away from the
desert to a mountaintop and shows him the earthly empires at its base, focusing specifically on Rome and Parthia. He
advises the Son to choose one to either destroy or league with.
• The Son is unmoved by Satan’s counsel, again refusing earthly empire. Trying a different approach, Satan then offers the Son knowledge.
S
ECOND
T
EMPTATION
(C
ONT
.)
• He remarks that not all knowledge is contained in Moses’ Law or what was written by the prophets.
• But the Son is yet unyielding, replying that “he who receives / Light from above, from the fountain of light, / No other
doctrine needs…”
• Foiled yet again, Satan returns the Son to the desert and
apparently withdraws, but when the Son lays down to sleep, Satan produces a fierce storm and disturbs the Son’s sleep with “ugly dreams.”
FINAL
TEMPTATION
• All his efforts frustrated, Satan finally abandons his pretense of humility in his final confrontation with Jesus. When
morning arrives and the Son awakens, calm has returned, despite the furious storm caused by Satan during the night.
• Satan appears to the Son again and carries him away to
Jerusalem, setting him down on the highest spire of the temple.
• Satan tells Jesus to cast himself from the spire, as it is written that God will command his angels to “uplift thee, lest at any time / Thou chance to dash thy foot against a stone…”
F
INAL
T
EMPTATION
(C
ONT
.)
• The Son simply replies, “Also it is written, / ‘Tempt not the Lord thy God…’”
• At this a host of angels appears and spirits Jesus away to a “flowery valley,” spreading before him a table of “Celestial Food.”
• As Jesus eats the angels sing praise to him, exalting his victory over the “Thief of Paradise.”
• The Son of God, refreshed from his “Heavenly Feast,” returns “Home to his Mother’s house.”
CONCLUSION
• Milton’s Paradise Lost and the reimagined Battlestar
Galactica make for an intriguing, if unconventional,
comparison of humankind’s fall from grace.
• Eve in Paradise Lost and the D’Anna in Battlestar Galactica both give in to the craving for forbidden knowledge, and thus lose their respective versions of Paradise.
• However, through The Son obeying God’s will and resisting Satan’s temptations in Paradise Regained and Kara Thrace realizing her destiny in Battlestar Galactica, Paradise is regained for all humanity.
CONCLUSION
(CONT
.)
• The setting and characters are different, but the story remains the same. After all, “All of this has happened before, and will happen again”
