Eve's dream at the start of Book V is an obvious foreshadowing of the actual temptation scene in Book IX. This foreshadowing, however, is also ironic in that the reader already knows that Eve — and Adam — will yield to the temptation of Satan. Thus, rather than being simply an instance of foreshadowing, Eve's dream is confirmation and emphasis on what the reader knows must and will happen. Further, by bringing up the dream at this point in the text, Milton makes the reader analogous to God. Both God and the reader know that Adam and Eve will fall, but neither the reader nor God is the cause of that fall. Consequently, when Adam tells Eve that the dream will not come true, that it is bred of fear rather than reason, the reader, once again like God, knows that Adam is wrong but can do nothing to help him.
The set up of Eve's dream segues nicely into another brief discussion of free will — this time between God and Raphael. Here God does what the reader cannot: He sends a warning to Adam, reminding him that Satan will try to tempt Mankind to disobedience and that Adam's and Eve's free will can allow them to give in to that temptation. God's warning stops just short of telling Adam exactly what will happen.
At times Milton seems almost obsessive on his insistence of the idea of free will. Certainly, the idea that Adam has free will is central to Milton's theology, and, like a teacher with a student before a test, Milton wants to drive the point home to the reader. Adam has free will. God is omniscient. He knows Adam will fall, but he does not cause the fall. In fact, God actively tries to thwart the fall. But God, like the reader, ultimately knows that nothing can change the outcome for Adam and Eve.
