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The dramatic structure of the last two books of Paradise Lost is considered the denouement or the unraveling of the plot of the narrative. After the climax, the fall of Adam and Eve in Book IX, the final books give Adam a vivid clarification and a necessary perspective of the dire consequences of his fall. Michael has used the device of visions in Book XI to drive home to Adam the far-reaching extent of the misery and suffering in a sinful world. He now shifts to a strictly narrative approach, changing his emphasis from a “world destroyed” to a “world restored.” Adam’s moral instruction must necessarily include hope for his lost condition to prepare him for his expulsion from Paradise. He comes to a full understanding of that hope when Michael helps him realize that it is Christ’s resurrection that crushes the Serpent’s head by defeating Sin and Death. He sees the significance of his own role in God’s master plan of redemption when he finally comprehends the lineage of Christ. yet from my loins
Thou(Virgin Mother)shalt proceed,
and from thy womb the Son
Of God Most High; so God with Man unites. Michael’s education of Adam accomplishes God’s intent for Adam and Eve; to send them out of Paradise “though sorrowing, yet in peace” (P. L., XI, 117). Adam himself verifies this. “Greatly instructed I shall hence depart,/ Greatly in peace of thought, and have my fill/ Of knowledge.” After the destruction of the world by flood, Michael says, Noah’s descendants, still living in fear of God’s judgment, lead their lives peacefully and productively. One man, “a mighty hunter,” soon rises up in rebellion against God, however, building a tower “whose top may reach to Heaven.” This alludes to the Scriptures. “He began to be a mighty one in the earth . . . Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel” (Genesis 10:9–10). Nimrod, who built the Tower of Babel, was also building a powerful empire and held men in “subjection to his empire tyrannous.” Many commentators see Milton’s contemporary reference to Charles I in the story of Nimrod. Or from Heaven claiming second sovranty;
And from rebellion shall derive his name,
Though of rebellion other she accuse. By claiming to receive his divine authority from God, the tyrant (Charles I) not only rebel falsely but also accuses the leaders of the Puritan Revolution of rebellion. Milton is sure to point out that Nimrod was dealt with by God just as he will deal with tyrants of his own time who attempt to destroy Man’s liberty. He punctuates this idea through Adam. Remembering God’s earlier injunction before the fall, Adam says that God has given authority over beast, fish, and fowl, “but man over men/ He made not lord.” This type of tyranny can only be attributed to the fall, Michael says. After Christ’s ascension into Heaven, the Holy Spirit is sent to the Apostles to evangelize the nations. They baptize people and after they have performed Christ’s ministry, they die. In their place “Wolves shall succeed for teachers, grievous wolves.” The metaphor of “wolves” as clergymen is Milton’s reference to the corruption of the Anglican as well as the Catholic church. Michael lists their many hypocritical practices. Priests and clergymen have held to traditions rather than the truths of the Scriptures; they have concerned themselves with their own positions and titles; they have used secular power under the guise of spiritual power to quiet dissenters; and the “Spirit of Grace itself” is bound by the observance of ritual in the church. These were all points that Milton had touched on in his earlier writings. The passage alludes to the condition of the Anglican church in the wake of the Protestant Reformation which had already become corrupt and ritualistic by the seventeenth century. When Milton writes about “secular power, though feigning still to act/By spiritual,” we are reminded of the political power of Archbishop Laud whose suppressive practices in the Anglican church were given complete support by Charles I. Michael finishes his account of the “world restored” in which Christ will reward the faithful ones and create for them a new Heaven and Earth. In his enthusiasm about the news of salvation and the prospect of eternal happiness, Adam is suddenly overcome with joy when he sees that God is merciful. That all this good of evil shall produce,And evil turn to good; more wonderfulThan that which by creation first brought forthLight out of darkness. Adam feels that his fall has created an even better Paradise than the one that was lost. This is often referred to as the felix culpa or “fortunate fall,” translated literally from the Latin as the “happy fault.” It is a paradox that the fall is the worst human misfortune, but at the same time it is God’s highest opportunity for good. God has chosen to turn evil into good. It is Adam’s hope and sustains him as he prepares to face his ultimate expulsion from Paradise. When Eve awakes from her restful sleep, she is prepared to leave with Adam. “With thee to go,/ Is to stay here; without thee here to stay,/ Is to go hence unwilling.” These words echo those of Ruth in the Bible who says, “Whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge” (Ruth 1:16). Eve has made peace with her guilt. Though she is still aware that “all by me is lost,” she also finds hope in the knowledge that “by me the Promised Seed shall all restore.” As Adam prepares to leave Paradise, we reflect on his development from his innocence before the fall, to his sin and consequent repentance and reconciliation with God, and finally to his realization that God is just and “to obey is best.” This is the sum of all his wisdom. He now knows his place as Man in a world filled with woe, but he also has hope that Christ will restore that world. As Adam and Eve slowly find “their solitary way” on a foreign plain, their feelings of hope are mixed with sadness as they shed “some natural tears” over their loss of Paradise.
 
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