ABSTRACT
While some modern critics have tried to read Paradise Regained as a psychologically realistic dramatic presentation, the text itself does not support such a reading. The poem is rather an exploration of Christ's role as the second Adam, and it is meant to be read as a sequel to Paradise Lost offering certain typological contrasts between Adam and Christ. The major contrasts are Adam's fallibility as contrasted with Christ's infallibility, the contrasting types of knowledge available to the two heroes, and the differences shown between man under the law and under grace. This last contrast is supported by the numerological structure of Paradise Regained. Thus, the work is not realism, but ritual drama; and the audience identifies with the main character, not as with a limited mortal, but as with a culture hero.
