First off, for those that don't know, Paradise Lost is a fictional telling of the story of Adam and Eve, and God and Satan. It takes a lot of liberties, so don't expect going into it that you'll be reading the same old story of Adam and Eve and the Forbidden Fruit. There's a lot more to it, like the battle between God and Satan in Heaven and Satan's ultimate fall to Hell.

I'm reading it right now for a class. We aren't at the part where Adam and Eve fell, but Eve had a dream (that Satan put in her mind) that she was tempted to eat the fruit and it really bothers her. It bothers Adam too. Up to this point they have had no concept of the idea of "trouble;" now they do, and it worries them.

This is Adam's response after Eve describes her dream to him:

"Know that in the soul
Are many lesser faculties, that serve
Reason as chief; among these Fancy next
Her office holds; of all external things
Which the five watchful senses represent,
She forms imaginations, aery shapes,
Which Reason, joining or disjoining, frames
All what we affirm or what deny, and call
Our knowledge or opinion; then retires
Into her private cell, when nature rests.
Oft in her absence mimick Fancy wakes
To imitate her; but, misjoining shapes,
Wild work produces oft, and most in dreams;
Ill matching words and deeds long past or late.
Some such resemblances, methinks, I find
Of our last evening's talk, in this thy dream,
But with addition strange; yet be not sad.
Evil into the mind of God or Man
May come and go, so unreproved, and leave
No spot or blame behind: Which gives me hope
That what in sleep thou didst abhor to dream,
Waking thou never will consent to do."

Basically, he says that it was just a dream, a combination of fanciful imaginings and real events in life (i.e. a conversation Adam and Eve had had about the forbidden tree), and that Eve is far too reasonable to let a dream of succumbing to temptation convince her that she will in actuality succumb to temptation.

I don't find that particularly comforting, and neither does Eve. like how Milton describes her reaction. She doesn't say anything:

"...But silently a gentle tear let fall
From either eye, and wiped them with her hair;
Two other precious drops that ready stood,
Each in their crystal sluice, he ere they fell
Kissed, as the gracious signs of sweet remorse
And pious awe, that feared to have offended."

She cries a little because of how guilty she feels, because she has thought of doing wrong, even though she hasn't done anything yet. As I was thinking about this the other day when I read it, I thought it was peculiar how Adam tried to reason away Eve's emotional trouble of heart. I don't know guys' nature that well, but I wondered if that's the way it is in real life. It would make some things make a LOT of sense.

What was funny was just a few days earlier I had Google-searched "understanding a woman's heart" and come up with a website with a summary of a Christian book called For Men Only. It had a LOT of advice to men about understanding women and was actually, I thought, pretty darn accurate! I double-checked with my friend Jenny and she agreed. Here are some of the things it said (by the way, the book is written for married men, so if it seems a little bit too serious advice for a dating relationship, LOL, that's why):

"Ever had this happen? Your woman seems down, so you ask what's wrong. She tells what's bothering her, and since you care, you try to help. She gets upset and pushes you away, saying you don't care! Obviously, men sometimes don't get how to really listen and care in a way that really helps.... Careful listening will often help our wives even more than the stuff we do best, rescuing and fixing.

"It's really true that she doesn't want you to fix the problem, at least at first. She mostly wants you to listen and validate how she's feeling about the problem. Just being able to share what's going on actually fixes something for a woman!"

Anyway... I feel like I learned some things about guys. And hopefully in writing this blog I can help guys learn some things about girls.

Paradise Lost has so much food for thought in it! I really, really like it so far.

-Stephanie

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