[Milton-L] (no subject)

[Margaret Thickstun]

Christy--your question is a good one that I don't think the text 
answers.  There is no evidence Adam gestures toward the Tree of 
Knowledge when he and Eve are discussing its significance.  But I must 
protest strenuously against Marlene's suggestion that God /wants/ Satan 
to do what he does.  That seems to me to undermine the entire argument 
of the poem, that God is not responsible/liable for human and angelic 
disobedience, that all the created beings are "sufficient to have stood, 
though free to fall."  That once Satan starts on the road of rebellion 
he cannot stop (that's his frequent excuse), that "necessity" compels him.

So, Christy, I think you may have discovered a lacuna in the 
text--that's good careful reading.--Margie

Marlene Edelstein wrote:
> perhaps God plants (sorry about the pun) the knowledge in Satan's mind 
> to push on the plot-
>
> believe everything, believe nothing
>
> --- On *Fri, 7/11/08, christy neary /<christy.neary at hotmail.com>/* wrote:
>
>     From: christy neary <christy.neary at hotmail.com>
>     Subject: [Milton-L] (no subject)
>     To: "John Milton Discussion List" <milton-l at lists.richmond.edu>
>     Date: Friday, 7 November, 2008, 11:27 AM
>
>     HELLO ALL, Still having a problem with Satan ( haven't we all ).
>     How does he know exactly which tree is the tree of interdiction?
>     He eavesdrops ( pardon the pun ) on Adam & Eve's conversation and
>     learns that it is fast by the tree of life, but this only narrows
>     it down and does not identify it specifically.
>     Regards,
>     Christy
>
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-- 

Margaret Olofson Thickstun

Elizabeth J. McCormack Professor of English

Hamilton College

198 College Hill Road

Clinton, NY 13323

(315) 859-4466

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