Sufficiency In Shakespeare's Paradise Of Adam And Eve
The idea of “sufficiency” is speculative and dependent upon the context in which it is presented. The Paradise of Adam and Eve was sufficient because it served its purpose fully. It had more than enough amenities to sustain the two of them and had more than they could ever use within their lifetime. And Adam and Eve in their time in Paradise were immortal, to say that Paradise for them was sufficient is beyond comprehension compared to the current world of scarce resources. For example, when Eve makes lunch into a feast with what she finds around her.
[…] Raised of grassy turf
Their table was, and mossy seats had round,
And on her ample square from side to side
All autumn piled, though spring and autumn here
Danced hand in hand […] (V, lines 391-395)
To say that it was suitable for an angel, let alone grandiose, implies that “sufficient” is an insufficient term to describe Paradise:
[…] Each tree …show more content…
Mostly, it is used to describe the egregiousness of Adam disobeying God’s orders.
[…] ingrate, he had of me
All he could have; I made him just and right,
Sufficient to have stood, though free to fall.
Such I created all the ethereal powers
And spirits, both them who stood and them who failed;
Freely they stood who stood, and fell who fell (III, lines 97-102)
Adam had within himself all that was necessary to live, just enough, but not more that would lead him to temptation. There was no surplus for Adam in Paradise, sufficient constituted just enough to keep him alive and allow him to create more of himself. God’s idea of sufficiency for his creations stems from the ideal that they have free will to make their own choices and should be held accountable for their own actions. God gave man and angels their own independence, but the knowledge to know what He expected of them. Their sufficiency made them innocent, it was they themselves that either made themselves self-sufficient or
[…] Raised of grassy turf
Their table was, and mossy seats had round,
And on her ample square from side to side
All autumn piled, though spring and autumn here
Danced hand in hand […] (V, lines 391-395)
To say that it was suitable for an angel, let alone grandiose, implies that “sufficient” is an insufficient term to describe Paradise:
[…] Each tree …show more content…
Mostly, it is used to describe the egregiousness of Adam disobeying God’s orders.
[…] ingrate, he had of me
All he could have; I made him just and right,
Sufficient to have stood, though free to fall.
Such I created all the ethereal powers
And spirits, both them who stood and them who failed;
Freely they stood who stood, and fell who fell (III, lines 97-102)
Adam had within himself all that was necessary to live, just enough, but not more that would lead him to temptation. There was no surplus for Adam in Paradise, sufficient constituted just enough to keep him alive and allow him to create more of himself. God’s idea of sufficiency for his creations stems from the ideal that they have free will to make their own choices and should be held accountable for their own actions. God gave man and angels their own independence, but the knowledge to know what He expected of them. Their sufficiency made them innocent, it was they themselves that either made themselves self-sufficient or