Wood engraving: Gustave Doré, 1866.
Satan's Descent. Isn't this an eerie picture?
We have been talking a lot in class about the concepts of light and dark, but there was one thing I did not have a chance to bring up on Thursday. I thought I would draw everyone's attention to the concept of the Tree of Knowledge. In Book IV, lines 510-520, we are told how Satan sees Adam and Eve walking and becomes very jealous of them (I like Milton's portrayal of Satan's complexity, by the way). I must be honest when I say I am not sure who is talking at that point, because at first I thought it was Satan, miserably watching as Adam and Eve are "imparadised in one another's arms," but the lines I wanted to discuss are these:
"...all is not theirs it seems:
One fatal tree there stands of knowledge called,
Forbidden them to taste: Knowledge forbidd'n?
Suspicious, reasonless. Why should their Lord
Envy them that? Can it be sin to know,
Can it be death?..."
I highlighted those as I was reading, because I think something remains to be said for the phrase "knowledge forbidd'n," and the possible consequences for Adam and Eve having gained it (sin, or possibly death). What kind of knowledge is this? Does the Knowledge (capital K) differ for Adam and for Eve? What about Knowledge of the truth of God (or, maybe like we discussed, "light?") Therefore, I wonder if Knowledge would then be equated with "shame," "perversion," or "sin." Although I cannot offer a definitive answer in this blog, maybe we could talk about this kind of apparently forbidden Knowledge more in class. What do you think that Knowledge could mean in any of these cases?
