Satan's first words to Eve when he enounters her in the Garden is a pivotal moment in the story in Paradise Lost that requires all of Satan's eloquence to be convincing. Satan pours praises on Eve in the style of Petrarchan love poetry. In addition to what Satan says, the beautfiul rhetoric he employs makes him all the more convincing.
The first two lines of his speech end with enjambement. Milton uses this to reflect Satan quickly justifying the prescence of another speaking being in the Garden and relaxing Eve before he showers her with praise. Satan then compares her to God by saying "Fairest resemblence of thy Maker fair" and proceeds to embellish the grandeur of Eve's situation.
"Thee all things living gaze on, all things thine by gift, and thy celestial beauty adore with ravishment beheld, there best beheld where universally admired." Were a beast to praise me so beautifully I'd eat whatever he told me to. Milton's brilliance shines through here not only in being able to construct a beautiful bit of poetry but to use it for the purpose of the very first seduction of a woman. The true brilliance of Satan's deceptive prelude comes when he introduces the very idea of his intention by stating that her beauty is too great to be by beasts in this "enclosure wild." He introduces the idea of wanting something more than what God has provided for Eve.
The first two lines of his speech end with enjambement. Milton uses this to reflect Satan quickly justifying the prescence of another speaking being in the Garden and relaxing Eve before he showers her with praise. Satan then compares her to God by saying "Fairest resemblence of thy Maker fair" and proceeds to embellish the grandeur of Eve's situation.
"Thee all things living gaze on, all things thine by gift, and thy celestial beauty adore with ravishment beheld, there best beheld where universally admired." Were a beast to praise me so beautifully I'd eat whatever he told me to. Milton's brilliance shines through here not only in being able to construct a beautiful bit of poetry but to use it for the purpose of the very first seduction of a woman. The true brilliance of Satan's deceptive prelude comes when he introduces the very idea of his intention by stating that her beauty is too great to be by beasts in this "enclosure wild." He introduces the idea of wanting something more than what God has provided for Eve.
posted by Nathan at 8:49 AM
1 Comments:
Nathan, you make some interesting assertions in this post but very few of them are supported with any kind of evidence from the text. In particular, the idea that Milton uses Petrarchan language could use some support from the text. If you took the time to organize your paragraphs a bit more coherently and make sure that you support all of your claims with evidence from the text your posts would improve greatly.
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