Paradaise Lost, Satan\'s Argument to Eve Possesses

¶ … Paradaise Lost, Satan's argument to Eve possesses several fallacies. According to Laura Skye: "Satan's speeches are indeed rhetorical masterpieces that confuse and twist as much as his serpentine actions" (Slye 1). Satan does a wonderful job, up until the end of his speech, making his argument sound logical. However, he uses persuasive speech, flattery, and lies in order to convince her -- all fallacies of an argument.

Initially, Satan's actions with Eve involve little effort to convince her that he is not any evil demon that Adam told her to expect on her voyage. Of course, this is an example of one of Satan's fallacies, because he is lying -- of course he is evil; he's Satan, after all. The second type of fallacy he uses is flattery in order to gain her attention and trust, an essential objective if he was willing to destroy mankind (p. 248-249 lines 540-548):

By gift, and thy celestial beauty adore,

With ravishment beheld who shouldst be seen

Goddess among Gods, adored and served

By Angels numberless, thy daily train?'

Using this flattery to compliment her beauty, and allowing her to recognize the fact that all of Eden's animals adore her, he slyly inserts the proposition that will allow her to become greater in power and being, "A Goddess among Gods," rivaling the omnipotent power possessed by God. Of course, this demonstrates the fallacy of flattery -- there is no way Even can ever be as powerful as her creater. Satan came in the form of a snake, the only reptile and animal that could have the ability to pluck the forbidden fruit from the tree. When questioned how he attained the ability to talk and interact, he simply answered that he ate the fruit of the tree, and received the knowledge equal to that of a human. Again, Satan demonstrates another fallacy; he is obviously not telling the truth. Immediately, this inserts the subject of curiosity into the mind of Eve, whose free will allows her to wonder exactly why the fruit of the tree is forbidden. By pursuing Eve's vanity, she falls subject to his irresistible flattery and forms a trust in the evil reptile, allowing Satan to easily conquer mankind.

In the last lines of his speech, Satan's logic grows increasingly disjointed and disordered. Rather than the scrupulously constructed arguments he presented before, Satan spews forth a barrage of questions designed to anger Eve. This is another method of a fallacy; the use of emotion to inspire an individual to do something that may not be the correct action. She is teetering on the edge, and he is launching a final intense assault to push her over. He inquires why God would wish to hold her back from reaching her full potential. Could He be envious of her? This certainly would be less than heavenly. Satan concludes, triumphant and seeming nearly out of breath, "These, these, and many more / Causes import your need of this fair fruit. / Goddess humane, reach then, and freely taste!" (11. 730-32). Satan is again using a fallacy, as he is lying to Eve; Satan knows very well that Eve cannot rise above her creator, because Satan himself was never able to do so. Regardless, everything has added up to an overwhelming case, and there is no longer any doubt as to the correct course. Satan's absolute confidence would surely give Eve conviction in the rightness of the action. As far as she knows, he has no personal interest in seeing her eat the fruit. Only our privileged knowledge of Satan's true identity and intentions prevents us as readers from being taken in by his rhetoric.

Satan's only method that he used in order to convince Eve to actually eat the forbidden fruit is simply based upon the gifts that God bestowed on Eve and the rest of mankind: free will. Satan gives many reasons for Eve to eat the fruit, to become a god, to be beautiful, to rise above Adam. All of these points in Satan's argument again demonstrate that he is using fallacies to convince her. While his argument appears logical, he is lying to her persistently; she cannot rise above Adam or God, and she definitely cannot become a goddess herself because she was born human. However, because Satan's arguments, although full of fallacies, still sound logical, Eve eventually consents. But the only being that truly convinces her to eat the fruit is herself, and the free will which she believes she can use in any circumstance. Upon being led to the forbidden tree, Eve recognizes easily (p.251-252 lines 651-654):

But of this tree we may not taste nor touch;

God so commanded, and left that command

Sole daughter of his voice: the rest, we live

Law to our selves; our reason is our law.'

Despite her knowledge that eating the fruit is wrong under the eyes of God, she sees her reason as her law, and her only law. Eve wants to become a God, and hold the power over Adam, the angels, and the other creatures of Paradise. Why does God refuse to give knowledge to a man through a fruit that a beast has already tasted and evolved from? It is this reasoning inserted into her mind by Satan that finally convinces Eve to engulf the forbidden fruit. Once again, as many times earlier in the epic, Satan's cunning prevails over the weak mind of Eve.