Who is to blame for the fall of Mankind? Satan is the primary scapegoat, as he was the one who seduced Eve into taking the fruit from the Forbidden Tree of Knowledge. But could Eve not have easily refused to give in to temptation? Could Adam not have done the same? And what of all-knowing and all-knowing God, the Creator of all things? Is he not the root of Man's downfall? In John Milton's Paradise Lost, the epic poet explores the source of "Man's First disobedience." Looking at the dialogues and narrative in specifically Book I and Book IV, we see that the one to blame is ambiguous. However, Milton fleshes out the uncanny parallels between Satan and Man as well as the intriguing connection between Satan and Eve. Looking at the similarities, we can better understand why Satan chose Eve as the first Man to tempt. Furthermore, It is through the parallels between Satan and Man that that the real source is revealed. During the time period in which Paradise Lost was written, Calvinism was growing as a major branch of Christianity. Calvinists believed in predestination: all events have been willed by God. The parallels between Satan and Man are not about the question of the culprit; rather, they reflect the inevitability of Man's downfall. Exploring the microcosms of Hell and Eden, we cannot help but notice the paradox of of free will and how it explains the natural desire to disobey "Heav'n's perpetual King" (I, 131). .
Milton first blames Man, that is to say, Adam and Eve, for the fall, as it is their "mortal taste [that Brought Death into the World" (I, 2-3). He then implies that it is due to predestination ("I may assert Eternal Providence,/And justify the ways of God to men") and finally points the finger at Satan, "Th'infernal Serpent" who " first seduc'd them to that foul revolt" (I, 33-34). This is an altered reproduction of The Expulsion from Eden in Genesis, when God asks Adam, "Hast thou eaten of the tree" (Ch.
