Themes from Wikipedia Marriage Milton first presents Adam and Eve in Book IV with
impartiality. The relationship between Adam and Eve is one of "mutual
dependence, not a relation of domination or hierarchy." While the author
does place Adam above Eve in regard to his intellectual knowledge, and in
turn his relation to God, he also grants Eve the benefit of knowledge through
experience. Idolatry Milton's 17th
century contemporaries by and large criticized Milton’s ideas and considered
him as a radical, mostly because of his well-known Protestant views on
politics and religion. One of Milton's greatest and most controversial
arguments centers on his concept of what is idolatrous; this topic is deeply
embedded in Paradise Lost. Milton's first criticism of idolatry focuses on the practice of constructing temples and other buildings to serve as places of worship. In Book XI of Paradise Lost, Adam tries to atone for his sins by offering to build altars to worship God. In response, the angel Michael explains that Adam does not need to build physical objects to experience the presence of God. |