Bible in English literature

Milton's epic poem “Paradise Lost”, but Pullman commends humanity for what Milton saw as its most tragic failing, original sin.The trilogy, though it is full of fantasy elements, also alludes to ideas from philosophy, theology and physics. The main character of the trilogy and of the “Amber Spyglass” is LyraBelaqua. She is identified as the next Eve, so her destiny is to replay Eve’s story and even undo the original sin. But Pullman argues with the very idea of this sin. The image of something close to the forbidden fruit is revealed in the chapter “Marzipan”. Lyra is listening to the story of Mary, who, according to her own word, was very innocent in her childhood, she wanted to serve God in her heart. Mary in her innocent state can be compared to Eve before the Fall, and as Eve, she has her “forbidden fruit” that is taken the shape of the piece of marzipan. This marzipan was given to Mary by a man (“not a ladies’ man or a charmer”)and she felt in love with him “for the gentle way he touched my lips with the marzipan”. This description influences Lyra a lot, it changes her: “As Mary said that, Lyra felt something strange happen to her body. She found a stirring at the roots of her hair: she found herself breathing faster. She had never been on a roller-coaster, or anything like one, but if she had, she would have recognised the sensations in her breast: they were exciting and frightening at the same time, and she had not the slightest idea why. The sensation continued, and deepened, and changed, as more parts of her body found themselves affected too”. This episode is crucial for the self-knowledge of Lyra, of her way as a modern Eve, because just a few scenes later, Lyra, alone in the woods with her friend Will, lifts a little red fruit “gently to his mouth.” And this fruit becomes a forbidden fruit of her own; she replays the story of Eve, but in a different, more optimistic and vital way. The style of the episode is poetic and has some biblical note in it: “Around them there was nothing but silence, as if all the world were holding its breath.”Pullman explicitly explains his point of view to the episode: “This is exactly what happens in the Garden of Eden. They become aware of sexuality, of the power the body has to attract attention from someone else. This is not only natural, but a wonderful thing! To be celebrated! Why the Christian Church has spent 2,000 years condemning this glorious moment, well, that’s a mystery. I want to confront that, I suppose, by telling a story that this so-called original sin is anything but. It’s the thing that makes us fully human.” (Rosin)Pullman’s Eve is free of biblical or Milton’s Eve’s guilt, but also she doesn’t bring “good” and “evil” into human world as an intertwined being, all that she brings is only good in its highest meaning. There is another aspect of self-knowledge that is connected with the image of the “forbidden fruit”. Mary describes love as something well-known and entirely unknown in the same time.“And then someone passed me a bit of some sweet stuff and suddenly I realized that I had been to China. So to speak. And I’d forgotten it”. A piece of marzipan helps Mary understand something about her, it reveals some knowledge she was sure she didn’t have. And this description also avoids any negative connotations, on the contrary, it is Christian church that has negative connotation, because it makes everyone forget about “good”, about love, covering it with the story about the original sin and the tree of good and evil. Concluding our essay, it is necessary to underline several important points. In the biblical version of the story about Eve and the forbidden fruit Eve lacks personality, she doesn’t really have a name, she gets it only after the Fall. Milton’s version shows us a deeper image of Eve. Milton explores the first woman and the motives that drive her to do what she has done. Milton’s Eve gets personality and need in knowledge and self-knowledge. Muir’s poem shows that it was Eve’s disobedience, the expulsion from Eden that made us people, so Muir releases Eve from guilt: she did only that she had to do. Her decision was not only a disaster for humankind, because there is no good without evil. Pullman takes away the concept of guilt entirely. Lyra-Eve becomes aware of feeling, of her sexuality, and this fruit (though forbidden by Church) is only natural to be eaten. The story of Eve and the forbidden fruit therefore evolves from short biblical report about the original sin to the appraisal of human nature and love in all its aspects.  ReferencesBible.The Book of Genesis. URL: http://www.vatican.va/archive/bible/genesis/documents/bible_genesis_en.html. (Date of reference: 07.12.2016).Milton J. Paradise Lost. URL: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/intro/text.shtml. (Date of reference: 07.12.2016).Muir E. (1991) One Foot in Eden. // The Complete Poems of Edwin Muir. Assoc Scottish Literary Studies. Pp. 212-213.Pullman P. (2003) Amber Spyglass.Laurel Leaf. Pp.446-497.Rosin H. How Hollywood Saved God.URL: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2007/12/how-hollywood-saved-god/306444/. (Date of reference: 07.12.2016).