Paradise Lost: Book 4 Summary & Analysis

Milton begins by again lamenting the Fall of Man, and wishing that Adam and Eve had escaped Satan’s “mortal snare.” Meanwhile Satan lands on a mountain near Eden and looks upon the glory of Paradise. He is wracked with doubt at the sight of such beauty and innocence. Satan remembers his own former glory, and recognizes how unfairly he has rebelled against God, who never showed him anything but goodness. Satan wishes he had not been made such a powerful Archangel, as otherwise he might not have aspired to even more power and the overthrow of God.

Satan briefly considers what would happen if he repented and subdued himself to God, but he knows that this could only be a false confession. He knows that if he returned to Heaven, he could not bow down or be reconciled after such “wounds of deadly hate have pierced so deep.” He reasons that if he knows this, then God must know it too, explaining why God has not offered Satan any mercy. Satan accepts his own misery and realizes that he brings Hell with him wherever he goes now, as he is the incarnation of Hell, and will be unhappy even in Paradise.

Finally embracing his fallen state and doom of eternal misery, Satan decides to pursue the only path he perceives as left to him – he will work his hardest to commit evil deeds, and try to pervert God’s goodness. Satan does not realize that as he is having this internal debate, his dark shifts in mood have shown on his face. This reveals him “counterfeit,” as no Cherub would be subject to such inner turmoil. Uriel sees this from afar and realizes that he has been deceived.

Satan then comes to the border of Paradise, which is surrounded by a high wall of thickets, beyond which are many tall and beautiful fruit trees giving off heavenly odors. Satan leaps easily over the wall like a “prowling wolf” entering a sheep’s pen, or like “lewd hirelings” (paid clergy) climbing into God’s Church. Satan immediately flies to the tallest tree in the center of Eden, the Tree of Life, and he perches atop it in the shape of a cormorant (a sea bird).

Satan looks down on Paradise, the Garden of Eden, and examines its lushness and geography. Next to the Tree of Life is the Tree of Knowledge, “our death.” Milton describes the beautiful flowers, fruits, and trees of Eden, which is more fair than any of the famous gardens of Greek mythology. After surveying “undelighted all delight,” Satan notices two creatures walking upright and appearing more noble than all the other animals. They shine with “The image of their glorious Maker,” beautiful and innocent, the woman submissive to the man. They are naked but without sin or shame, and they walk past Satan hand in hand.

The humans rest beside a fountain, and they eat fruits and drink from the fountain. Wild animals play innocently around them, and predators like lions and bears are tame and vegetarian. The sun begins to set and Satan is speechless at the beauty and innocence of these creatures, but then he begins an inner monologue, as he is once more filled with great turmoil.

Satan experiences new grief and envy, and he feels he could have loved these humans. He seems to regret the suffering he is about to cause them, but he feels again that he has no choice, and is condemned by damnation to do evil. He then flies down from the tree to the ground and takes on different shapes of animals, gradually approaching the human pair.

As Satan approaches, the man, whose name is Adam, speaks to the woman, Eve. Adam says that they should praise God for their bounty and happiness, and not complain about the easy work they have to do tending to the garden. He says they must remain obedient, as God has given them many blessings, and dominion over all the Earth, and has only forbidden one thing: they are not to eat of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, as it will cause their death. Adam does not know what death is, but thinks it is “Some dreadful thing no doubt.”

Eve agrees with Adam, and praises him as her superior. She then describes her first memories of existence. She came to life as if waking from a sleep “under a shade of flow’rs,” immediately “wond’ring where / And what I was, whence thither brought, and how.” She followed a stream to its source at a clear lake, and looked into the water. Eve saw her reflection in the pool and was entranced by its beauty. She says she would still be trapped there had not a mysterious voice spoken to her and told her that the image was her own reflection.

The voice then told Eve to leave her reflection, and she obeyed. She found Adam under a “platan” tree, and at first thought him “less fair” than herself and so wanted to return to her reflection, but Adam called to her. He explained that she was created out of his flesh and bone, and that they were meant to be together. He then took Eve’s hand and she yielded to him, from then on acknowledging “How beauty is excelled by manly grace / And wisdom, which alone is truly fair.”

Eve finishes her speech and she and Adam embrace and kiss. Satan looks away in envy but then is strengthened in his resolve, as it seems unfair that they should have such joy while he is condemned to Hell. He notes God’s commandment against eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, and decides that this is his opportunity to corrupt Adam and Eve. If they can be persuaded to break God’s rule for the sake of gaining knowledge or power, then they will surely fall. Satan then leaves Adam and Eve, deciding to hide himself and try to learn more information from other angels that might be about.

Meanwhile Uriel flies up to the stony gates of Eden where Gabriel, the chief angelic guard, sits watching other angels exercising at “heroic games.” Uriel tells Gabriel about the spirit he let into Eden, and the shape-changing he witnessed. He suspects it might be one of the fallen angels. Gabriel promises to discover the spirit by morning if it is still in Eden. Uriel then returns to his post.

Evening comes to Eden and Adam and Eve retire to their leafy bower, as they must wake at dawn to work at pruning and manuring the garden. Their bower is covered with flowers of heavenly color and aroma. Before entering they pray to God, praising his glory and thanking him for their happiness. They then enter the bower and have sex.

Milton immediately defends this scene by declaring that Adam and Eve could have sex without sin, as the Fall had not corrupted their natures with lust yet. For them sex is a pure act of love, obeying God’s command to populate the earth. Milton further states that only “our destroyer” would condemn sex as inherently evil.

Night falls and Adam and Eve fall asleep, and Milton both blesses and laments their happy state, which will not last much longer. Meanwhile Gabriel sends his angels to scour Paradise and look for Satan. Two of them, Ithuriel and Zephon, find Satan in the shape of a toad, whispering evil thoughts into Eve’s ear while she sleeps, hoping to corrupt her dreams. The angels catch Satan and force him to return to his true shape.

Ithuriel and Zephon don’t recognize Satan at first, which wounds Satan’s pride, and he mocks them as lesser angels. Zephon then scornfully tells Satan that his heavenly brightness has been so dimmed by evil that he is now unrecognizable. Satan hears this and sees the beauty of the unfallen angels and again laments his current state, but then he demands to be brought to their leader. The angels bring him to Gabriel.

Gabriel recognizes Satan and confronts him, asking why he left Hell and entered Eden, and is now disturbing Eve’s dreams. Satan first feigns innocence, claiming merely that he tried to lessen his pain by leaving Hell, but Gabriel asks why he came alone, implying that he was the first to flee pain of all the rebel angels. Satan’s pride is stung and he describes the dangers he braved in flying through the abyss, hoping to find a new home on Earth.

Gabriel calls Satan a liar and laments how far the once-great Archangel has fallen. He threatens to drag Satan back to Hell and seal him there. This enrages Satan, and he becomes huge and terrible in appearance. The angels turn “fiery red” and prepare for battle, which might have destroyed Paradise or even the whole mortal universe in its fierceness, but God halts the conflict by placing a sign of Golden Scales in the sky.

Gabriel points to the Golden Scales, with which God ponders the outcomes of all events. On one side is the result of Satan staying and fighting, and on the other side is the result of Satan running away. The fighting side flies up, showing its emptiness and worthlessness, and Satan accepts this judgment as the truth. He recognizes that he could not be victorious, so he flies away.