NATIVISM IN PARADISE LOST
Nirmaldasan
Nativism may be defined as the natural bond that links persons to their place of birth. A starting point for a discussion of nativism in John Milton's Paradise Lost would be Raphael's advice to Adam in Book VIII (167-178):
Solicit not thy thoughts with matters hid,
Leave them to God above, him serve and fear;
Of other Creatures, as him pleases best,
Wherever plac't, let him dispose: joy thou
In what he gives to thee, this Paradise
And thy fair Eve; Heaven is for thee too high
To know what passes there; be lowly wise:
Think only what concerns thee and thy being;
Dream not of other Worlds, what Creatures there
Live, in what state, condition or degree,
Contented that thus far hath been reveal'd
Not of Earth only but of highest Heav'n.
Adam understands and his response to the angel itself serves to show that he is a true native of paradise. Mark his words (Book VIII, 188-197):
But apt the Mind or Fancy is to rove
Uncheckt, and of her roving is no end;
Till warned, or by experience taught, she learn,
That not to know at large of things remote
From use, obscure and subtle, but to know
That which before us lies in daily life,
Is the prime Wisdom, what is more, is fume,
Or emptiness, or fond impertinence,
And renders us in things that most concern
Unpractis'd, unprepared, and still to seek.
Raphael, native of heaven, was not the first to school Adam with lessons in nativism. Soon after the creation of Adam, God tells him (Book VIII, 319-333):
This Paradise I give thee, count it thine
To Till and keep, and of the Fruit to eat:
Of every Tree that in the Garden grows
Eat freely with glad heart; fear no dearth:
But of the Tree whose operation brings
Knowledge of good and ill, which I have set
The Pledge of thy Obedience and thy Faith,
Amid the Garden by the Tree of Life,
Remember what I warn thee, shun to taste,
And shun the bitter consequence: for know,
The day thou eat'st thereof, my sole command
Transgrest, inevitably thou shalt die;
From that day mortal, and this happy State
Shalt lose, expell'd from hence into a World
Of woe and sorrow.
John Milton describes two hierarchies that lead to problems in nativism — one of persona and the other of place. We will first deal with that of persona. A casual reading of Paradise Lost would easily show that God, Son of God, Angels, Humans and Devils form an hierarchic order with God at the top and Devils at the bottom. The Devils are fallen Angels who attempted to resist the divine hierarchy. God had declared in Book V (603-608):
This day I have begot whom I declare
My only Son, and on this holy Hill
Him have anointed, whom ye now behold
At my right hand; your Head I him appoint;
And by my Self have sworn to him shall bow
All knees in Heav'n, and shall confess him Lord.
Lucifer (called Satan) was not pleased. He 'drew after him the third part of Heav'n's Host'. Here follows a part of his rhetoric (Book V, 787-797):
Will ye submit your necks, and choose to bend
The supple knee? ye will not, if I trust
To know ye right, or if ye know yourselves
Natives and Sons of Heav'n possest before
By none, and if not equal all, yet free,
Equally free; for Orders and Degrees
Jar not with liberty, but well consist.
Who can in reason then or right assume
Monarchy over such as live by right
His equals, if in power and splendor less,
In freedom equal?
Satan's arguments persuaded all except Abdiel, a true native of Heaven, who believed that none should dispute the 'points of liberty' with God. He says (Book V, 826-831):
Yet by experience taught we know how good,
And of our good, and of our dignity
How provident he is, how far from thought
To make us less, bent rather to exalt
Our happy state under one Head more near
United.
None second Abdiel. He is mocked and intimidated. He retorts (Book V, 886-888):
That Golden Scepter which thou didst reject
Is now an Iron Rod to bruise and break
Thy disobedience.
Milton concludes Book V with a panegyric on Abdiel:
Among the faithless, faithful only hee;
Among innumerable false, unmov'd
Unshaken, unseduc'd, unterrifi'd
His Loyalty he kept, his Love, his Zeal;
Nor number, nor example with him wrought
To swerve from truth, or change his constant mind
Though single. From amidst them forth he pass'd,
Long way through hostile scorn, which he sustain'd
Superior, nor of violence fear'd aught;
And with retorted scorn his back he turn'd
On those proud Tow'rs to swift destruction doom'd.
War breaks out in Heaven and Abdiel has another tryst with Satan. And Satan mocks Abdiel (Book VI, 164-167):
At first I thought that Liberty and Heav'n
To heav'nly Souls had been all one; but now
I see that most through sloth had rather serve,
Minist'ring Spirits, train'd up in Feast and Song.
Abdiel's reply shows that the sacred is an inalienable part of nativism (Book VI, 183-186):
Reign thou in Hell thy Kingdom, let mee serve
In Heav'n God ever blest, and his Divine
Behests obey, worthiest to be obey'd,
Yet Chains in Hell, not Realms expect…
Satan, a native of Heaven, does not wish to reign in Hell, if we believe what he tells Michael in the passage beginning, 'Celestial Armies Prince'. He says he means to win 'the strife of glory' (Book VI, 291-293):
Or turn this Heav'n itself into the Hell
Thou fablest, here however to dwell free,
If not to reign…
While Abdiel's remarks indicate a hierarchy of place, Satan's problematise the very idea of place.
But more of this later as still we have to reckon with hierarchy in Eden, where Adam and Eve are placed.
In Book IV (635-638), Eve acknowledges the superiority of Adam:
My Author and Disposer, what thou bidd'st
Unargu'd I obey; so God ordains,
God is thy Law, thou mine: to know no more
Is woman's happiest knowledge and her praise.
But Adam, though he understands that Eve is 'inferior' and resembles less the maker's image, tells Raphael (Book VIII, 546-551):
…yet when I approach
Her loveliness, so absolute she seems
And in herself complete, so well to know
Her own, that what she wills to do or say,
Seems wisest, virtuosest, discreetest, best;
All higher knowledge in her presence falls
Degraded…
Raphael is quick to caution Adam (Book VIII, 567-571):
For what admir'st thou, what transports thee so,
An outside? fair no doubt, and worthy well
Thy cherishing, thy honouring, and thy love,
Not thy subjection: weigh with her thyself;
Then value…
Adam is quick to understand. When Eve seeks a division of labour, Adam tells her (Book IX, 232-234):
…for nothing lovelier can be found
In woman, than to study household good,
And good works in her Husband to promote.
He also tries to dissuade her from parting from his side (Book IX, 267-269):
The Wife, where danger or dishonour lurks,
Safest and seemliest by her Husband stays,
Who guards her, or with her the worst endures.
But Eve is not pleased. Her words not only resist hierarchy but also problematise the idea of place (Book IX, 335-341):
And what is Faith, Love, Virtue unassay'd
Alone, without exterior help sustain'd?
Let us not then suspect our happy State
Left so imperfect by the Maker wise,
As not secure to single or combin'd.
Frail is our happiness, if this be so,
And Eden were no Eden thus expos'd.
Eve had already been tempted by Satan in a dream to eat the forbidden fruit (Book V, 74-81):
Here, happy Creature, fair Angelic Eve,
Partake thou also; happy though thou art,
Happier thou mayst be, worthier canst not be:
Taste this, and be henceforth among the Gods
Thyself a Goddess, not to Earth confin'd,
But sometimes in the Air, as wee, sometimes
Ascend to Heav'n, by merit thine, and see
What life the Gods live there, and such live thou.
A casual reading of Paradise Lost is enough to show that Heaven is a better place than Earth; and Earth, a better place than Hell. But Eve is innocent yet. Though she dreams of eating the fruit, she wakes up and is glad to find it was only a dream. But in Book IX Satan again, this time for real, succeeds in tempting her. Eve eats the forbidden fruit, praises the Tree of Knowledge and then contemplates her next course of action (Book IX, 816-825):
But to Adam in what sort
Shall I appear? shall I to him make known
As yet my change, and give him to partake
Full happiness with mee, or rather not,
But keep the odds of Knowledge in my power
Without Copartner? so to add what wants
In Female Sex, the more to draw his Love,
And render me more equal, and perhaps,
A thing not undesirable, sometime
Superior; for inferior who is free?
But the fear of death and love of Adam result in her sharing the fruit with her husband. When Adam heard from Eve's lips that she had disobeyed God's command, 'horror chill ran through his veins'. But 'the link of nature' is so strong that he resolves to be on Eve's side (Book IX, 908-916):
How can I live without thee, how forgo
Thy sweet Converse and Love so dearly join'd,
To live again in these wild Woods forlorn?
Should God create another Eve, and I
Another Rib afford, yet loss of thee
Would never from my heart; no, no, I feel
The link of Nature draw me: Flesh of Flesh,
Bone of my Bone thou art, and from thy State
Mine never shall be parted, bliss or woe.
It is interesting to note that even before Adam eats the forbidden fruit, he likens Eden to 'wild Woods'. And Adam overcome with 'female charm' also eats the forbidden fruit. And together (Book IX, 1008-1011):
As with new Wine intoxicated both
They swim in mirth, and fancy that they feel
Divinity within them breeding wings
Wherewith to scorn the Earth…
The sin is complete. Not only have they resisted the hierarchy of persona but also of place. But they shortly realise the ill-effects of the fruit of knowledge, which
''their minds had darkened' and left them naked, void of honour, innocence, faith and purity.
When Adam confesses to God that he had eaten the fruit offered by Eve, God rebukes him (Book X, 144-148):
Was shee thy God, that her thou didst obey
Before his voice, or was she made thy guide,
Superior, or but equal, that to her
Thou didst resign thy Manhood…
The repentance of Eve marks a return to hierarchy of persona (Book X, 930-936):
Both have sinn'd, but thou
Against God only, I against God and thee,
And to the place of judgement will return,
There with my cries importune Heaven, that all
The sentence from thy head remov'd may 'light
On me, sole cause to thee of all this woe,
Mee mee only just object of his ire.
Now we move on to the hierarchy of place. First we shall consider the effects of exile on fallen angels and then those on Adam and Eve.
Driven by the Son of God to Hell, Satan tells Beelzebub (Book I, 242-245):
"Is this the Region, this the Soil, the Clime,"
Said then the lost Arch Angel, "this the seat
That we must change for Heav'n, this mournful gloom
For that celestial light?…
And then Satan defies the hierarchy of place (Book I, 249-255):
Farewell happy Fields
Where Joy for ever dwells: Hail horrors, hail
Infernal world, and thou profoundest Hell
Receive thy new Possessor: one who brings
A mind not to be chang'd by Place or Time.
The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell of Heav'n.
Satan thus problematises the idea of place by equating it to the mind. However, place is so concrete that it cannot be easily ignored. Here follows Satan's resolution (Book I, 261-263):
Here we may reign secure, and in my choice
To reign is worth ambition though in Hell:
Better to reign in Hell, than to serve in Heav'n.
Satan must have been thinking of Abdiel's words in Book VI, lines 183-186 (Reign thou in Hell…). But Satan cannot forget his former state of glory. He cannot give up Heaven for Hell. He tells his peers (Book II, 11-14):
Powers and Dominions, Deities of Heav'n,
For since no deep within her gulf can hold
Immortal vigour, though opprest and fall'n,
I give not Heav'n for lost.
In the debate that ensues in Book II, Moloch, Belial, Mammon and Beelzebub state their different views. Here follow certain passages that have a strong bearing on nativism.
Moloch (84-87):
… what can be worse
Than to dwell here, driven out from bliss, condemn'd
In this abhorred deep to utter woe.
Belial (208-220):
… This is now
Our doom; which if we can sustain and bear,
Our Supreme Foe in time may much remit
His anger, and perhaps thus far remov'd
Not mind us not offending, satisfi'd
With what is punish't; whence these raging fires
Will slack'n, if his breath stir not their flames.
Our purer essence then will overcome
Their noxious vapour, or inur'd not feel,
Or chang'd at length, and to the place conform'd
In temper and in nature, will receive
Familiar the fierce heat, and void of pain;
This horror will grow mild, this darkness light
Mammon (263-278):
…How oft amidst
Thick clouds and dark doth Heav'n's all-ruling Sire
Choose to reside, his Glory unobscur'd,
And with the Majesty of darkness round
Covers his Throne; from whence deep thunders roar
Must'ring their rage, and Heav'n resembles Hell?
As he our Darkness, cannot we his Light
Imitate when we please? This Desert soil
Wants not her hidden lustre, Gems and Gold;
Nor want we skill or art, from whence to raise
Magnificence; and what can Heav'n show more?
Our torments also may in length of time
Become our elements, these piercing Fires
As soft as now severe, our temper chang'd
Into their temper; which must needs remove
The sensible of pain.
Beelzebub (309-313):
Thrones and imperial powers, offspring of heav'n,
Ethereal Virtues; or these Titles now
Must we renounce, and changing style be call'd
Princes of Hell?…
Beelzebub went on to suggest that they may (as Satan had earlier suggested to him) drive out the inhabitants of Eden and mingle Earth with Hell. Everyone was pleased and Satan spoke (390-400):
Well have ye judg'd, well ended long debate,
Synod of Gods, and like to what ye are,
Great things resolv'd; which from the lowest deep
Will once more lift us up, in spite of Fate,
Nearer our ancient seat; perhaps in view of those bright confines, whence with neighbouring Arms
Re-enter Heav'n; or else in some mild Zone
Dwell not unvisited of Heav'n's fair Light
Secure, and at the bright'ning Orient beam
Purge off this gloom…
After Satan succeeded in tempting Eve, he returns to Hell and tells his peers (Book X, 466-469):
…Now possess,
As Lords, a spacious World, to our native Heaven
Little inferior, by my adventure hard
With peril great achiev'd.
Exiled Satan could only meet with partial success. But it is clear that Satan never really believed in the mind-place equation.
Meanwhile, Eve reconciled to Adam resolves never again to part from her husband's side and least suspects what is in store (Book XI, 171-180):
But the Field
To labour calls us now with sweat impos'd,
Though after sleepless Night; for see the Morn,
All unconcern'd with our unrest, begins
Her rosy progress smiling; let us forth,
I never from thy side henceforth to stray,
Where'er our day's work lies, though now enjoin'd
Laborious, till day droop; while here we dwell,
What can be toilsome in these pleasant Walks?
Here let us live, though in fall'n state, content.
But Adam, perceiving the signs of woe in nature, tells Eve that new laws may be imposed on them. Arch-Angel Michael arrives in Eden and tells Adam that the Lord has been appeased by their prayers. However, he adds (Book XI, 259-262):
But longer in this Paradise to dwell
Permits not; to remove thee I am come,
And send thee from the Garden forth to till
The ground whence thou wast tak'n, fitter soil.
Adam is shocked and stands speechless. Eve, though unseen and yet all had heard, is also shocked. Her audible lament runs thus (Book XI, 268-285):
O unexpected stroke, worse than Death!
Must I thus leave thee Paradise? thus leave
Thee Native Soil, these happy Walks and Shades,
Fit haunt of Gods? where I had hope to spend,
Quiet though sad, the respite of that day
That must be mortal unto us both. O flow'rs,
That never will in other Climate grow,
My early visitation, and my last
At Ev'n, which I bred up with tender hand
From the first op'ning bud, and gave ye Names,Who now shall rear ye to the Sun, or rankYour Tribes, and water from th'ambrosial Fount?
Thee lastly nuptial Bow'r, by mee adorn'd
With what to sight or smell was sweet; from thee
How shall I part, and whither wander down
Into a lower World, to this obscure
And wild, how shall we breathe in other Air
Less pure, accustom'd to immortal Fruits?
Michael's reply to Eve reinforces the hierarchy of persona and redefines nativism (Book XI, 290-292):
Thy going is not lonely, with thee goes
Thy Husband, him to follow thou art bound;
Where he abides, think there thy native soil.
Adam by now recovering from the 'cold sudden damp' also shares Eve's grief. But in addition his lament includes the element of the sacred (Book XI, 315-329):
This most afflicts me, that departing hence,
As from his face I shall be hid, depriv'd
His blessed count'nance; here I could frequent,
With worship, place by place where he vouchsaf'd
Presence Divine, and to my Sons relate;
On this Mount he appear'd, under this Tree
Stood visible, among these Pines his voice
I heard, here with him at this Fountain talk'd:
So many grateful Altars I would rear
Of grassy Turf, and pile up every Stone
Of lustre from the brook, in memory,
Or monument to Ages, and thereon
Offer sweet smelling Gums and Fruits and Flow'rs:
In yonder nether World where shall I seek
His bright appearances, or footstep trace?
Michael tells Adam that God is omnipresent and makes it appear that Adam is not really a native of Eden but of the whole Earth (Book XI, 339-346):
All th' Earth he gave thee to possess and rule,
No despicable gift; surmise not then
His presence to these narrow bounds confin'd
Of Paradise or Eden: this had been
Perhaps thy Capital Seat, from whence had spread
All generations, and had hither come
From all the ends of th' Earth, to celebrate
And reverence thee their great Progenitor.
God had sent Michael to Eden not only to banish Adam and Eve but also to reveal to Adam the future and how to lead a good life (Book XI, 356-366):
…know I am sent
To show thee what shall come in future days
To thee and to thy Offspring; good with bad
Expect to hear, supernal Grace contending
With sinfulness of Men; thereby to learn
True patience, and to temper joy with fear
And pious sorrow, equally inur'd
By moderation either state to bear,
Prosperous or adverse: so shalt thou lead
Safest thy life, and best prepar'd endure
Thy mortal passage when it comes.
And Michael teaches Adam about temperance — 'the rule of
not too much' — and tells him neither to love life nor hate (Book XII, lines
53-54):
Nor love thy life nor hate; but what thou liv'st
Live well, how long or short permit to heaven
After the future is revealed to Adam, Michael tells Adam to (Book XII, lines 581-587):
…only add
Deeds to thy knowledge answerable, add Faith,
Add Virtue, Patience, Temperance, add Love,
By name to come call'd Charity, the soul
Of all the rest: then wilt thou not be loath
To leave this Paradise, but shalt possess
A Paradise within thee, happier far.
The 'paradise within', according to Michael, is better than Adam and Eve's native Eden. The 'paradise within' is an 'inward state of mind'. Contrast it with the following lines from Book IX (1121-1126):
They sat them down to weep, nor only Tears
Rain'd at their Eyes, but high Winds worse within Began to rise, high Passions, Anger, Hate,
Mistrust, Suspicion, Discord, and shook sore
Their inward State of Mind, calm Region once
And full of Peace, now tost and turbulent
That the mind is the region seems to be the thesis of Milton's Paradise Lost. Michael, native of heaven, says it. Adam, though he does not explicitly state it, is well pleased to hear Eve's version of it (Book XII, 615-619):
In mee is no delay; with thee to go,
Is to stay here; without thee here to stay,
Is to go hence unwilling; thou to mee
Art all things under Heav'n, all places thou,
Who for my wilful crime art banisht hence.
We saw in Book I how Satan attempted a mind-place equation; but being positioned in hell, he found it difficult to accept it. Abdiel, positioned in heaven and content with divine hierarchy, had no need to say it or believe in it.
Paradise Lost may best be read as an allegory. The human mind can either descend to a hellish state or ascend to the divine. Paradise Lost is not about the loss of Eden but about the loss of 'paradise within'. Adam and Eve had lost Eden but were already on the road to regaining the 'paradise within' (Book XII, concluding lines):
They looking back, all th' Eastern side beheld
Of Paradise, so late their happy seat,
Wav'd over by that flaming Brand, the Gate
With dreadful Faces throng'd and fiery Arms:
Some natural tears they dropp'd, but wiped them
soon;
The World was all before them, where to choose
Their place of rest, and Providence their guide:
They hand in hand with wand'ring steps and slow
Through Eden took their solitary way.
It may be noted that Milton pursues his mind-region thesis in Paradise Regained. Christ withstands the temptations of Satan and thus recovers 'paradise within' to all mankind.
NOTE: The extracts from Milton’s epic are from Christopher Rick’s edition of Paradise Lost (Signet Classic, 1969).
