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As ever, this book keeps making me think about how awful it must have been to be a woman in Milton's era (and before, and for much time after...!) :(

My browser crashed at some point, so I lost some highlighted parts. Alas.

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But of the tree whose operation brings Knowledge of good and ill (which I have set The pledge of thy obedience and thy faith Amid the garden by the Tree of Life) Remember what I warn thee: shun to taste And shun the bitter consequence! For know, The day thou eat'st thereof, my sole command Transgressed, inevitably thou shalt die, From that day mortal and this happy state Shalt lose, expelled from hence into a world Of woe and sorrow.

Mostly sticking this bit here as a reminder to myself that God did indeed give Dire Warnings from the start (to Adam, at least). I don't remember if God has explained yet why the fruit causes mortality and sorrow? Still not sure if it's a "yeah this is kinda an inevitable consequence of knowing what 'good' and 'evil' are" thing or a "I added this extra effect unnecessarily because I wanted to catch people out" thing. The former would make a lot of sense (if we ignore God's omnipotence), but I have a couple of questions now:

• God presumably knows what 'good' and 'evil' are. Does this mean God is mortal too, and knows only/mostly woe and sorrow?
• Does the knowledge mean you're inherently Not Fit To Live In Eden? Did God create his garden knowing it would be forever alien to him?
• Maybe God has a "the rules don't apply to you because you're God :)" thing. This is the most likely option.
• Why are there animals not in Eden. Why are some animals condemned to sorrow. Did they eat the fruit too. Should God have put bird-netting over his trees??? Follow-up: if this is why there are animals outside of Eden, does this mean animals could go to Heaven or Hell?
• Or are they just outside of Eden Because Reasons (to keep humans company???)? If so, is this just? Or does it not matter to them since they (hopefully) only know joy - but we can see they don't! Did humans' sins weigh on the animals too???????

I think these were probably mostly explained earlier, or will be explained later.

EDIT: There's probably a pun on morality/mortality here somewhere!

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Among unequals what society Can sort, what harmony or true delight, Which must be mutual in proportion due Given and received? But in disparity- The one intense, the other still remiss- Cannot well suit with either but soon prove Tedious alike.

This is an interesting passage in a story which is kinda About the inherent inequality of Creation (Eve!!! :( ) (God.) (the entire Great Chain of Being)

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Frankenstein notes time! Not going to copypaste the whole passage because it's long, but compare lines 253-282 to the Creature's account of his first few weeks of life?

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Thou in Thyself art perfect and in Thee Is no deficience found. Not so is Man But in degree, the cause of his desire By conversation with his like to help Or solace his defects. No need that Thou Shouldst propagate, already infinite And through all numbers absolute, though One. But Man by number is to manifest His single imperfection and beget Like of his like, his image multiplied In unity defective which requires Collateral love and dearest amity. Thou in Thy secrecy, although alone, Best with Thyself accompanied, seek'st not Social communication.

C.f. "[W]e are unfashioned creatures, but half made up, if one wiser, better, dearer than ourselves—such a friend ought to be—do not lend his aid to perfectionate our weak and faulty natures." (Immediately followed, of course, by "I had one (1) friend once and he was PERFECT and 'am entitled, therefore, to judge respecting friendship'" (I was going to paraphrase, but the actual words are much funnier).) (Side note: turns out this passage isn't in the 1818 edition! Instead it's just "friendship is not only a desirable, but a possible acquisition". Actually, that's also rather funny in its own way.)

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Anyway, I'm getting a lot of Boss Baby vibes from this book.

I really like the start of the chapter - I mean, I like all the parts where Milton invokes his muse!

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IMPORTANT: ode to an ant spotted!!!

The parsimonious emmet, provident Of future, in small room large heart enclosed, Pattern of just equality perhaps Hereafter, joined in her popular tribes Of commonalty

In small room large heart enclosed... Wikipedia has no information on whether this is How Ants Were Thought Of in Milton's era or whether Milton just really loved ants 💖🐜

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The serpent, subtlest beast of all the field, Of huge extent sometimes with brazen eyes And hairy mane terrific

...Hairy-maned snake? Milton, what. The footnotes do say "See Aeneid 2.206-7", which is "Two serpents, rank'd abreast, the seas divide, / And smoothly sweep along the swelling tide." (trans. John Dryden). This doesn't help with the hairy mane?!

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Does the Bible say why God didn't want humans to know about good and evil? Was it a "if you know about evil, you will do evil" thing? Perhaps this will be answered later in PL.

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More Frankenquotes:

But knowledge is as food and needs no less Her temperance over appetite to know In measure what the mind may well contain, Oppresses else with surfeit and soon turns Wisdom to folly as nourishment to wind.

Cf. Frankenstein ch. 4:

I do not think that the pursuit of knowledge is an exception to this rule. If the study to which you apply yourself has a tendency to weaken your affections and to destroy your taste for those simple pleasures in which no alloy can possibly mix, then that study is certainly unlawful, that is to say, not befitting the human mind.

(I think there are almost certainly Frankenquotes which match up slightly better, but I don't want to read through all the bits addressing Robert to look for one.)

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Thrice happy men And sons of men whom God hath thus advanced, Created in His image there to dwell And worship Him and in reward to rule Over his works on earth, in sea, or air, And multiply a race of worshippers Holy and just! Thrice happy if they know Their happiness and persevere upright!

Cf. from Frankenstein ch. 4:

A new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me. No father could claim the gratitude of his child so completely as I should deserve theirs.

I would assume this desire showed in the notes he made while creating the Creature.

(All quotes from Frankenstein are from the 1831 edition)