The Rape of Proserpina and Eves Fall in Miltons...

The Rape of Proserpina and Eves Fall in Miltons Paradise Lost She pluckd, she eat (PL IX.781). With these four monosyllables, Milton succinctly announces the Fall of Eve in Paradise Lost. Eves Fall, however, is far more complex than a simple act of eating, for her disobedience represents a much greater loss of chastity. Indeed, Milton implies that the Fall is a violation not only of Gods sole commandment but also of Eve herself, for Milton implicitly equates Diss ravishment of Proserpina with Satans seduction of Eve. Milton weaves the Proserpina myth, as told by Ovid in his Metamorphoses, throughout Paradise Lost as a trope for rape and Eves loss of virginity, and this culminates in a metaphorical construction of the Fall as†¦show more content†¦Ovid begins: Haud procul Hennaeis lacus est a moenibus altae,nomine Pergus, aquae; [. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ] perpetuum ver est. Quo dum Proserpina luco ludit et aut violas aut candida lilia carpit, dumque puellari studio calathosque sinumque inplet et aequales certat superare legendo, paene simul visa est dilectaque raptaque Diti. (Metamorphoses V.385-95) 1 Miltons negative syntax, therefore, not only draws us away from Ovids Enna but also propels us toward it, for Ovid too employs a negative construction: Not far from Ennas walls [. . .] (Met. V.385-6). Furthermore, Miltons progression from the active participle gathring to the passive gatherd mirrors Ovids progression from legendo (gathering) to rapta (she has been taken). In addition, Milton directly prefaces the above passage with thEternal Spring (PL IV.268), much as Ovid tells us that spring is eternal (perpetuum ver est). What resonates in Miltons description, however, are not the enumerated similarities between Eden and Enna but that which Milton leaves unmentioned—the striking comparison between Eve and Proserpina, between Satans seduction of our mother and Diss ravishment of Ovids goddess. Milton does not explicitly compare Proserpina to Eve, yet the obvious parallel between these two innocent gardeners preyed upon by dark forces is a potent subtext. Indeed, upon completing his