Close reading this passage gives me the strong impression that authority and responsibility is a burden, not a gift. When Eve claims that she has "the happier lot," she does so on the grounds that she can find a leader and a "head" in Adam, yet he can not find an equal "consort." Authority, then, or supremacy, is the less desirable position. If we reflect on the other leadership roles in the epic, we see a similar trend. In Book 2, Satan must undertake a very difficult, undesirable task (finding Earth and manipulating humans) on his own. He must volunteer--and he is compelled to do so by nothing more than his sense of authority and leadership. Jesus, too, makes a similar decision. In Book 3, he volunteers to take on the sins of the world (an act for which I could not find a sufficiently powerful hyperbole) because he feels compelled by his authority as the only Son of God. The consequences of this responsibility are total helplessness. Eve demonstrates this for us later in the passage when she is first identified as the "Mother of the human race." As soon as this distinction is made, she speaks lines of helplessness and inferiority. "What could I do?" and "invisibly thus led" do not communicate positions of strength.
The obvious synthesis that I need to make here is one to God himself. Being in a position of total authority and responsibility, it would stand to reason that he would be totally helpless and inferior. Obviously, that doesn't seem to be the case. Politically, though, it could be far more telling if applied to the King of England. I have yet to encounter any examples of God having his hands tied or otherwise limited, but given the complexity of reducing the God of the universe to a character in literature, I suppose some allowances must be made. And I'll be waiting for more examples of inferiority or powerlessness. If God were to exhibit those traits later, it would certainly be a powerful statement on the politics that Milton discusses with his writing.
I think that there should be a bit of a distinction between your example of Adam and examples of Satan and Jesus. Adam truly does get the unfavorable lot for his authority, but in my opinion, Satan and Jesus act more as martyrs. They act out of a sense of duty and its probable that in their minds, they don't think that they received a bad lot. I guess what I'm trying to say is that the idea of a "good lot" or a "bad lot" is all relative to whoever makes the claim.
ReplyDeleteIf you tweak your argument slightly and say that "responsibility" is a burden, you do not need to apply your argument to God. God indeed has authority, but he does not necessarily have responsibility, which is arguably the distinction between him and his angelic and humanly subjects. I think you could argue that God does not have responsibility, as we see this in that he knows Satan is plotting against him but does nothing to set him straight. He also allows Adam and Eve to fall from the garden of Eden, which illustrates that he is not responsible for them being "perfect."
ReplyDeleteYou could also make the eerie comparison between God and Satan. Satan definitely has authority, but not necessarily responsibility, over his own actions and those of others. It is his irresponsibility that gets him rejected from heaven.
I do not think that Satan considers finding Earth and humans a responsibility. Satan may volunteer, but it is only after he converses with Beezlebub separately that sparks his comment about corrupting the humans. Satan planted this idea in Beezlebub's head in order to mask the fact that he wanted to be the one who volunteers to venture in the unknown. Also, after he offers to go, he makes sure that no one else tries to volunteer. It wasn't that he felt it was his responsibility to find the humans and corrupt them, its that he sees it as an opportunity to wield ultimate authority over the other fallen angels.
ReplyDeleteThe "what chould I do?" could also suggest that she is unhappy to be relegated to a position where she has very little choice. She enjoyed her reflection and being able to stare at herself - only much, much later did she learn to enjoy Adam's company. She didn't even think he was attractive at first, but what could she do? That sounds helpless and bitter at her position, not immediately happy that she could follow someone else's order. Everybody loses, really - the ones with power have to make tough decisions, the ones without power have to deal with the lot they're given and wait for it to get better and really pray that it will be good!
ReplyDeleteI don't think that Milton shows God as helpless - I think that if Milton does show power/responsibility as something leading to vulnerability, then it is a statement about how no one but God can truly hold power. This could also apply to the King, as the King would be another person falsely trying to attain the authority that is only God's.
ReplyDelete