Who Should We Blame for Sin?

Cransheka Emery

This paper was prepared for British Literature, Instructor: Thomas Bullington.

Literary Work Analyzed

John Milton’s Paradise Lost

That day I oft remember, when from sleep
I first awak’t, and found myself repos’d
Under a shade on flow’rs, much wondering where
And what I was, whence thither brought, and how.
Not distant far from thence a murmuring sound
Of waters issu’d from a Cave and spread
Into a liquid Plain, then stood unmov’d
Pure as th’ expanse of Heav’n; I thither went
With unexperienc’t thought, and laid me down
On the green bank, to look into the clear
Smooth Lake, that to me seem’d another Sky.
As I bent down to look, just opposite,
A Shape within the wat’ry gleam appear’d
Lending to look on me, I started back,
I started back, but pleas’d I soon return’d,
Pleas’d it return’d as soon with answering looks
Of sympathy and love; there I had fixt—
Mine eyes till now, and pin’d with vain desire,
Had not a voice thus warn’d me, What thou seest,
What there thou seest fair Creature is thyself,
With thee it came and goes;

Who Should We Blame For Sin?

Unexperienc’t Thought

The passage surrounding Eve’s awakening does indeed raise many questions about how we form our own identity as moral creatures. From a psychological standpoint, I will attempt to interpret Eve’s “unexperienc’t thought” and the scene of Eve’s discovering herself in her reflection. To do so, I must reflect on what we’ve studied thus far this semester in Psychology, my own personal life experiences as well as my personal spiritual experiences. By examining the essay from these angles, I will attempt to make an argument for Eve’s psychology to determine whether or not Eve is morally responsible for sin.