Milton’s conclusion of Paradise Lost is profoundly moving. In the first half of my adaption, I depict the characters performing rituals of closure. As Adam and Eve begin their journey as mortals, “with wand’ring steps and slow,” Eve, the gardener of Eden, drops dark flower petals from the fruit of her labor behind her, leaving a trail of sorrow. She stops to sprinkle them over each treasure of Paradise she passes. She lays intact roses on each “burial mound.” Adam walks alongside her, never letting go of her hand. I feel that this physical connection highlights their unity and love, despite their fall and banishment from Paradise. In the second half of my adaption, God gives a sign of hope to Adam and Eve. Pink carnations remind them of his gift of Providence. And the blue hyacinths sprinkled over the carnations symbolize God’s constancy.
For this assignment, I portray the last five lines of John Milton’s Paradise Lost through Victorian floriography, enhanced by Tchaikovsky’s Hymn of the Cherubim, which expresses their fate of being unable to reenter Eden. “And He cast out Adam; and placed before the paradise of pleasure Cherubims…” (Genesis 3:24). I wish to convey their pain and despair in losing the Garden but also their consolation in God’s steady presence, “The world was all before them, where to choose their place of rest, and Providence their guide.” God does not forsake Adam and Eve. As a universal emblem of beauty, flowers possess a delicate and diverse language. The dark crimson rose represents loss, death, and mourning; the blue hyacinth represents constancy; and, the pink carnation represents vigilance and loyalty, embodied by the expression, “I’ll never forget you” — God will not forget Adam and Eve. The order in which the flowers appear expresses the transition in their emotional state from grief to hope. I selected objects from around my house to represent harmony, innocence, regality, tranquility, and the fruit of the tree of life in Eden that Adam and Eve lost. The Goebel Hummel figurines suggesting innocence portray Adam distracting Eve from her labors and Eve desiring knowledge.
Milton’s conclusion of Paradise Lost is profoundly moving. In the first half of my adaption, I depict the characters performing rituals of closure. As Adam and Eve begin their journey as mortals, “with wand’ring steps and slow,” Eve, the gardener of Eden, drops dark flower petals from the fruit of her labor behind her, leaving a trail of sorrow. She stops to sprinkle them over each treasure of Paradise she passes. She lays intact roses on each “burial mound.” Adam walks alongside her, never letting go of her hand. I feel that this physical connection highlights their unity and love, despite their fall and banishment from Paradise. In the second half of my adaption, God gives a sign of hope to Adam and Eve. Pink carnations remind them of his gift of Providence. And the blue hyacinths sprinkled over the carnations symbolize God’s constancy.
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