Eve in the Garden of EdenThe most important characters in the epic poem “Paradise Lost” are Satan and Eve. These two characters are most responsible for the development and progression of events within the poem. Satan is the main character in the vast majority of the plot. “Paradise Lost” follows Satan's ultimately successful attempt to destroy God's perfect creation, humanity, by forcing Adam and Eve to leave the Garden of Eden. In creating humanity, God set expectations and established boundaries for Adam and Eve, but these were not particularly restrictive. Adam and Eve had free reign within the confines of the Garden and the free will to make their own decisions, however few. necessary. Milton writes in Book 3, “I have created him fair and just/sufficient to stand, though free to fall” (3.97-99). Adam and Eve were able to build their own future together. All that was required of them was to take care of the land in Eden, which would not be hard work because the fruit was easy to produce. In the biblical story of the Garden of Eden and in the version told by John Milton, Satan entices Eve to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Just as is the case today, Milton's audience in the 18th century would have been familiar with the story of the fall of Adam and Eve. Readers know that Eve will eventually be deceived by Satan and convince Adam to eat the fruit. From then on, the audience eagerly awaits the moment when Eve will be manipulated. Greenblatt et al. (2008) write of Adam and Eve: "Their relationship exhibits a gender hierarchy, but Milton's early readers may have been surprised by the fullness and complexity of Eve's character and the centrality of her role ". This statement specifies...... middle of paper...... decides to take the Fall together. This continues through the other books of the poem. After hearing God's chastisement, the two "...hand in hand, with wandering and slow steps/through Eden, took their solitary path" (12.648-49). Adam and Eve will never return to Eden, but they retained their free will. Milton does not make it clear in the early books that the story will include Eve and Adam eating from the Tree of Knowledge, or even include the Fall. God repeatedly mentions that both humans have free will to make their own decisions and determine their own futures. Both humans are ultimately given the freedom to fall and succumb to Satan's power and curiosity. Works cited by Greenblatt, Stephen and Meyer Howard Abrams. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Stephen Greenblatt and Meyer Howard Abrams. WW Norton and company, 2012.