John Milton, Paradise Lost, and the Persuasion of Eve

In Book 9 of John Milton's Paradise Lost, Satan makes the argument most critical to the plot of the story, persuading Eve to partake of the Forbidden Fruit. The result of this conversation directly affects the outcome of the narrative and serves as the climax for the entire poem, since one of the essential themes of Paradise Lost is free will.

In his speech to Eve, Satan uses everything to his advantage that he can. Just as in the rest of Paradise Lost, Milton depicts him as a great orator with long, drawn-out speeches and colorful, poetic language. It does not matter if his argument is coherent or has any logical flaws, for Eve is innocent and naïve. In the end, his address succeeds because of his ability to appeal to Eve's emotions.

Satan starts his argument to the first woman by appealing to her beauty and grace. As the footnotes in The Norton Anthology state, his introduction is based on the "extravagant praises of the Petrarchan love convention." (p 822). In reality, there is a serious flaw with this initial statement, since beauty is a comparative and sociological concept. The only way Adam and Eve could have been able to understand this concept is if God or Raphael told them they were beautiful or ugly and explained to them what it meant. It is highly doubtful God would call his creations ugly, and if he told Eve she was beautiful, wouldn't she be insusceptible to Satan's suave guile, simply telling him something like, "of course I am beautiful."?

In any event, Eve is somewhat flattered by the serpent's remarks, merely questioning his ability to speak. Instead of being suspicious or frightened, she is in awe. Milton makes a point of saying that "into the heart of Eve his words made way, though at the voice much marveling; at length / Not unamazed" (Book 9 lines 550-552) and later on after Satan's next speech, "and Eve / Yet more amazed unwary thus replied:" (Book 9 lines 613-614). It seemed that the purpose of including these phrases was to insure that the reader understands that Eve is intrigued by the Devil's appearance.