3) God’s decision to send Raphael to warn Adam about the dangers ahead also foreshadows their fall, although the fact that it does so is paradoxical. Every Christian reader already knows that Adam and Eve will fall, so instead of creating suspense, Raphael’s words of instruction only heighten our sense of the gravity of their sin and the tragedy of their disobedience. As well as Christians, God also knows that, because He is able to see the future outcome as well as past actions.
(lines 520–528) “That thou art happy, owe to God; That thou continues such, owe to thyself, That is, to thy obedience; therein stand. This was the caution given thee; be advis’d. God made thee perfect, not immutable; And good he made thee, but to persevere He left it in thy power; ordain’d thy will By nature free, not overrul’d by fate Inextricable, or strict necessity.”
4) It is ironic that Raphael is sent to provide them with knowledge about their own ignorance, which should help them resist temptation. In the end, the irony is evident in that Adam and Eve know what will happen if they give in to temptation but do it anyway.
(lines 224–228) “Raphael, said he, thou hear’st what stir on earth Satan, from hell scap’d through the darksome gulf Hath rais’d in Paradise, and how disturb’d This night the human pair; how he designs In them at once to ruin all mankind”.
…
