Paradise Lost

"Thus fenced, and as they thought, their shame in part / Covered, but not at rest or ease of mind, / They sat them down to weep, nor only tears / Rained at their eyes, but high winds worse within / Began to rise, high passions, anger, hate, / Mistrust, suspicion, discord, and shook sore / Their inward state of mind, calm region once / And full of peace, now tossed and turbulent."

• John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book IX, lines 1120-1126

The Fall of the Angels & Hell

• Satan's Defiance: "What though the field be lost? All is not Lost; the unconquerable will, And study of revenge, immortal hate, And courage never to submit or yield: And what is else not to be overcome? That glory never shall his wrath or might Extort from me. To bow and sue for grace With suppliant knee, and deify his power, Who from the terror of his arm so late Doubted his empire, that were low indeed, That were an ignominy and shame beneath This downfall." — Book I, lines 105-117 (Satan's famous declaration of unyielding will and pride in the face of defeat.)
• Hell as a State of Mind: "The mind is its own place, and in itself Can make a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell of Heav'n." — Book I, lines 254-255 (Satan's assertion of internal will shaping perception, a key philosophical concept.)
• Satan's Regret and Resolve: "O Sun, to tell thee how I hate thy beams, That bring to my remembrance from what state I fell, how glorious once above thy sphere; Till pride and worse ambition threw me down, Warring in Heav'n against Heav'n’s matchless King." — Book IV, lines 37-41 (Satan, observing Eden, acknowledges the source of his fall, yet remains resolute in his evil purpose.)
• The Fallen Angels' Condition: "Fallen Cherub, to be weak is miserable, Doing or suffering: but of this be sure, To do aught good never will be our task, But ever to do ill our sole delight, As being contrary to his high will Whom we resist." — Book I, lines 157-162 (Beelzebub speaking, outlining the infernal creed of opposing the divine.)

Adam and Eve (Before the Fall)

• Their Creation and Ideal State: "Two of far nobler shape, erect and tall, God-like erect, with native honour clad In naked majesty seemed lords of all." — Book IV, lines 288-290 (Description of Adam and Eve in their innocent state in Eden.)
• Adam's Love for Eve & Her Origin: "Sole Eve, associate Sole, to me beyond Compare above all living Creatures dear! ... For God is in thee, thou in him art pure." — Book IV, lines 440-441 (from Adam to Eve) (Adam's deep affection for Eve.) "Under his forming hand a Creature grew, Manlike, but different sex, so lovely faire, That what seemd incomplet in him now wrought Entire, and fill’d with all delight, all grace." — Book VIII, lines 470-473 (God speaking of Eve's creation) (God's description of Eve's perfect creation, completing Adam.)
• Their Relationship and Hierarchy: "For contemplation he and valor formed, For softness she and sweet attractive grace; He for God only, she for God in him." — Book IV, lines 297-299 (Milton's famous (and often debated) lines on the divinely ordained hierarchy within their innocent state.)
• Their Innocence and Love: "Nor turned, I ween, Adam from his fair spouse, Nor Eve the eye of her Creator, from him turned; With ringlets fair, and eyes of native hue, Adorned with such a perfect innocence, As only they could wear whom God had made." — Book IV, lines 310-314 (Emphasizing their original purity and lack of shame.)

The Garden of Eden

• Description of Paradise: "A happy rural seat of various view; Groves whose rich trees wept odorous gums and balm, Others whose fruit burnished with golden rind Hung amiable, Hesperian fables true, If true, here only, and of delicious taste." — Book IV, lines 247-251 (Describing the abundant beauty and perfection of Eden.)
• The Tree of Knowledge: "The Tree of Knowledge, planted by the Tree Of Life, had not yet tasted by our parents." — Book IV, lines 220-221 (Highlighting the central, forbidden element in the Garden.)

The Serpent and the Temptation

• Satan's Transformation into the Serpent: "So spake the enemy of mankind, enclosed In serpent, inmate bad!" — Book IX, lines 86-87 (The narrator's direct indictment of Satan's chosen form.)
• The Serpent's Flattery of Eve: "Empress of this fair World, resplendent Eve! Easy to me it is to call thee so, And thou art worthy, whether by thy self Or by thy Lord created, for on thee Chiefly I set my wonder, and admire Thy perfect form..." — Book IX, lines 538-543 (Satan, in serpent form, begins his insidious flattery of Eve.)
• The Temptation's Core Argument: "God therefore cannot hurt ye, and be just; Not just, not God; not fear'd then, nor obey'd: Your fear itself of death removes the fear. Why then was this forbid? Why but to awe; Why but to keep ye low and ignorant, His worshippers; he knows that in the day Ye eat thereof, your eyes that seem so clear, Yet are but dim, shall perfectly be then Open'd and clear'd, and ye shall be as gods..." — Book IX, lines 698-707 (Satan's cunning argument, questioning God's motives and promising god-like knowledge.)

The Fall of Man and its Immediate Aftermath

• Eve's Consumption of the Fruit: "So saying, her rash hand in evil hour Forth reaching to the fruit, she plucked, she ate: Earth felt the wound, and Nature from her seat Sighing through all her Works gave signs of woe, That all was lost." — Book IX, lines 780-784 (The pivotal moment of Eve's transgression and its cosmic impact.)
• Adam's Conscious Choice to Fall with Eve: "How can I live without thee, how forego Thy sweet converse and love so dearly joined, To live again in these wild woods forlorn? Should God create another Eve, and I Another rib afford, yet loss of thee Would never from my heart; no, no, I feel The link of nature draw me: flesh of flesh, Bone of my bone thou art, and from thy state Mine never shall be parted, bliss or woe." — Book IX, lines 908-916 (Adam's agonizing decision, choosing love for Eve over obedience to God, an act of "fondness" not deception.)
• Immediate Consequences: Lust and Shame: "Carnal desire inflaming, hee on Eve Began to cast lascivious eyes, she him As wantonly repaid; in lust they burn: Till mutual accusation brought them down Into a lower fall." — Book IX, lines 1013-1017 (The instant transformation of their pure love into lust and the beginning of blame.)
• The Expulsion: "They, looking back, all the eastern side beheld Of Paradise, so late their happy seat, Waved over by that flaming Brand, the Gate With dreadful Faces thronged and fiery Arms: Some natural tears they dropped, but wiped them soon; The world was all before them, where to choose Their place of rest, and Providence their guide: They hand in hand with wandering steps and slow, Through Eden took their solitary way." — Book XII, lines 641-649 (The iconic closing image of Adam and Eve's exile, filled with both sorrow and a glimmer of hope for future guidance.)