In Book IV of Milton’s Paradise Lost, Eve recounts her memory of her first living moments to Adam. Eve relates that upon seeing Adam, she turned around and began walking in the opposite direction. Eve then quotes the exact words Adam used to convince her to stay: “Return fair Eve! …my other half” (page 91, lines 481-488). Upon examining Adam’s words, I discovered that Adam takes advantage of Eve’s lack of knowledge when reasoning with her. He doesn’t tell her everything. He keeps a few pieces of important information to himself. Assuming all Adam’s logic is truthful and based on facts, then he has a very valid argument as to why she should stay with him. But since it is not based on substantial evidence, rather assumptions, as I will soon prove, his argument to Eve will be shown to be invalid and should be disregarded. Yet, since Eve is unaware of all the facts and has only Adam’s words to believe, Adam prevails and his reasoning wins Eve’s heart, “I yielded, and from that time see how beauty is excelled by manly grace and wisdom which alone is truly fair.” (lines 489-491)
I will begin my proof by analyzing Adam’s use of the word “lent” in “To give thee being I lent out of my side to thee.” (lines 483- 484) According to The Free Dictionary, “lent” is the past tense form of the word “lend” which means “to permit the use of (something) with the expectation of return of the same or an equivalent.” Firstly, how does Adam know that an act of loaning took place? We turn to book VIII where Adam relates his vision of Eve's creation to Raphael. He says “Mine eyes he closed… abstract as in a trance methought I saw (though sleeping where I lay),” (page 190, lines 460-463) showing that at the time, he was neither conscious nor...
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...ts Adam’s truth distortions have on Eve are quite simple. Saying he consented to the loan tells Eve that Adam did something nice for Eve that he didn’t have to do, and that without him, she would not exist. Thus, gaining her compassion and giving her an extremely strong feeling of indebtedness. Adding that what he loaned her was “substantial” life implies that she owes him something of a similar degree of importance in return, which he claims to be her. Obviously wanting to fulfill her obligation, she “reimburses” her creditor, “I yielded” (line 489).
Now it is clear that from the outset, Adam exploits Eve’s lack of knowledge in order to “Have thee by my side” (line 485). Was this the only way to accomplish his goal? Probably not. But was it the safest way (the most likely to work)? I think so, and apparently, so does Adam.
Eve does exactly what God commanded her to not do. Now that I have explained the main things a bout both stories I will continue by discussing the main themes and symbols that are existent in both stories.
From the very beginning of time we have Adam and Eve from the Christian bible. The story has been told in many different ways, including in plays, and sometimes teaches more than just about god. Eve is made from one of Adam’s ribs. Once the two eat from the tree of knowledge, they are to be punished from eating the forbidden apples that introduced sin into the world. God puts the curse of bearing children on Eve, because she was the first to bite and then tempted Adam. “Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and
Adam's sin, as recounted in the Book of Genesis is sometimes called in Hebrew (translated: the first sin of man, or Adam). The account in Genesis (2-3), implies that Adam and Eve initially in communion with God. God warned Adam not to eat the fruit of "the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil" (Genesis 2:15-17). The serpent persuaded Eve, who in turn persuaded Adam, to disobey this...
...to mankind in Paradise Lost - one of the fundamental concepts in Christianity and vital to Milton's objective to "justify the ways of God to men" (1, 26) - the gods in the Aeneid are continually reminding Aeneas that he cannot afford to be distractive by the temptresses that are women because the future of Rome lays in his hands. Milton's God, on the other hand, allows Eve to fall and her blatant transgression caused the loss of paradise and all of creation has to experience the consequences of original sin. In Paradise Lost Eve was expected to submit to her ultimate authority, Adam. Rather, it is Adam in Book IX who submits to Eve's unreasonable discourse on separation. Indeed, the implication of a man (as a superior being) succumbing to feminine wiles and passion is an intense concept which - for both Virgil and Milton - threatened the very basis of their society.
Now, to the untrained eye, it may be possible to interpret the aforementioned text as having certain "scheisty" tendencies coming from both the serpent and, believe it or not, God himself. As possible as it may seem, the main theme of the passages of Genesis are not trying to show God as being greedy with the knowledge of good and evil. It isn't like God was worried that Adam and Eve would gain knowledge that would empower them and make them as gods. That is almost preposterous to think that God, the almighty creator of heaven and earth, would be worried about two mortals obtaining a little bit of information. In all actuality, that idea is incredibly far from the truth. God gave Adam and Eve the world, literally. This perfect world, a "heaven on earth", was just given to them out of the goodness of his heart. All they had to do was look over God's creations and enjoy true eternal bliss. As a matter of fact, the only rule that God gave to Adam and Eve was to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. All they had to do to live in the eternal paradise, with all the cookies and milk they could stomach, was to follow that one freakin' rule. Acknowledging the fact that the serpent (a.k.a. Satan Incarnate) did do its part in persuading Eve to eat the fruit and to give the fruit to her husband. Even still, Eve should have realized that she was risking eternal happiness for the words of a snake.
In Paradise Lost, one of the differences God is aware of the betrayal his creations unlike Frankenstein. There is a point where Adam desires a companion to share the world with, thus God creates Eve from one of Adam’s ribs. He is in a predicament now, due to there are now two beings to love now, but who deserves the more affection. He “can neither love himself adequately nor love Eve as himself unless have love God adequately – and so make his love for Eve, the unity of their shared self, an expression of that higher love” (Gross 95). This scene displays one of Adam’s limitations of his free will. Thus creating her in being the submissive which eventually became her downfall, Adam’s and the rest of humanity. Eve is flawed, she has the inclination of self-love, a quality she should not be capable of possessing or acting upon. The only love that she should be expressing is her love for Adam in a way also loving God. This becomes their weakness. Satan learns about this weakness and exploits it as his advantage to enact his scheme. He influences a susceptible Eve, by coercing her into eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge. He claims to Eve about the fruit “By the fruit? It gives you life To knowledge by the threat’ner? Look on me, Me, who have touched and tasted; yet both live” (Book 9 l. 686-688). Satan is able to persuade them to consume the fruit that provides them
In our present era, there is no doubt that the evolution of women's rights has come a long way. It is in the Western Culture that these values for which women have fought for generations, are in conflict with Genesis 1-3. The events that occur in this "creation story" are crucial in that it begins when God creates man in his own likeness and man is given domination over all living things. The significance is the prominence given to men; God is male and his most important creation is male. The biblical account underlines the supremacy of man while making it clear that women play an inferior role. Furthermore, the biblical account also describes how woman are disobedient and yield to temptation, the result of which is the expulsion of both Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. In the poem "How Cruel is the Story of Eve", Stevie Smith's castigation towards the biblical story of Eve demonstrates how women have been victims of despair and suffering since the beginning of time. She holds it responsible for cruelty towards women in history, she implies that the values derived from the story of Eve were forced upon women without choice, and finally, she challenges the authenticity of the religious tale on a whole. Without a doubt, women have fallen victim to an untrue, religious tale from the beginning of time, and the poem is an outcry representing the suffering of women throughout history.
All in all the actions of Eve were neither good nor evil, but instead necessary. Through her actions she brought to light the evils of the world, and as a result man is able to appreciate that which is good. Moreover one cannot blame Eve for what she did because although as we have seen God did instill upon mankind free will, he used his threats as a means of manipulating this gift. Although there were many trees in the Garden of Eden, having the tree of knowledge of good and evil forbidden created mystery for Eve, and therefore drew her to it over the tree of life. And once both Adam and Eve choose with their own free will to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil immortality is no longer an option. Now that man is knowledgeable enough to appreciate immortality, God removes it as an choice. In a way this story shows us the flaws of both man and God. Man in that he is tempted by that which is forbidden and does not always respect the orders of those in a position of authority; And God is shown to be somewhat devious and perhaps even malicious at times.
In the debate titled Of the Equal or Unequal Sin of Adam and Eve, two authors; Isotta Nogarola and Ludovico Foscarini, argue about the original sin committed by Adam and Eve. Nogarola first states that Eve lacked a sense and constancy and that she therefore sinned less than Adam did. In her case the serpent thought of Adam as invulnerable due to his constancy. God created Adam to have unchanged opinions and state of mind, in order to avoid falling into the serpent’s persuasion, however Eve’s vulnerability led her to a severe sin. God found Adam guilty for the sin because he esteemed man more highly than woman and led his command towards Adam to not eat the fruit from the tree. Weak and inclined to indulge on the fruit, Nogarola claims, Eve
Throughout the ages, the story of the original sin is used to explain the struggles of women and why they are inferior to man. Eve “took of [the forbidden tree’s] fruit and ate” (Genesis 3:6), and as punishment, God made it so “[her husband] shall rule over her” (3:16). As an important text during the lifetime of the characters who tell the collection of stories that compose the Canterbury Tales, most of the pilgrims were familiar with this scripture and believed that the Bible’s word was law. For that reason, the popular belief of the time was that women were inferior to their male counterparts. However, a couple of characters in the tales challenge this viewpoint and show that women were also capable of making their own choices. As the pilgrims struggle with the issue of where women belong, their view of Eve in the story of original sin is altered as well. From mild indifference to intimate involvement, each pilgrim has a different attachment to the story of the Eve, and their views on women in society are reflected in their connection to the story.
...nces for straying from God and it is because of this that his mind further and further spirals downward. On the other hand, Adam and Eve manage to realize the scope of God’s power and thus rewarded by God’s grace.
As the story shows, Adam and Eve while in the Garden had everything they would ever need. When Eve let the serpent talk her out of listening to God, we see the punishment sequence take place. They both were banished from the Garden, in which Adam had to work on cursed land, where it would be hard to grow food and take care of the family. Eve was punished my having the pains of child birth and the role of the mother. The punishments that God gives both Adam and Eve are equal and because they did not obey God’s command they would have to suffer outside of the Garden and therefore have a harder life. This part of the story explains why it is important to do the right thing, so in the end things do not get harder for
The last two lines of this speech are very dramatic. Eve has such a great love for Adam that she could endure anything as long as he would be by her side, but she would be nothing without him. However, this creates a paradox. One may ask, if Eve loves Adam as much as she professes to, then why put his life in jeopardy just to make her own suffering more bearable? The answer, of course, goes back to the selfishness that has pervaded her entire speech. These lines stand out because of the spondees at the end of both of them.
He knows that they are now doomed, but immediately decides that he cannot live without Eve. Eve wants him to suffer the same fate as she. Adam eats the fruit. Both the Bible and Paradise Lost hold Adam and Eve at fault. But, both accounts place one of them in a more negative account. In the Bible, Adam is held in a more negative light, whereas in Paradise Lost, Eve is put into a more negative light. Neither of these depictions is correct, neither source hold them both in contempt for their actions they both committed. It is always one person’s fault, which is not accurate when both partook in the fateful eating of the fruit.
In Book IV, Eve recalls awakening to consciousness but she is uncertain of her identity and of her place in the Garden of Eden. Eve's first thoughts are of “where and what [she] was, whence thither brought, and how” (Paradise Lost, IV.451-52), and it is this curiosity about her identity that leads Eve to disobey God eventually. From the moment of her conception, Eve is already distant from God because she awakens in the shade and not in God’s light. Throughout Paradise Lost, Eve is identified with reflections, shadows, and dreams. Representing the “otherness” of Eden, Eve is an outcast and she seeks to find meaning in her life. At the moment of her awakening, Eve is engrossed by her reflection in the water, which she thinks is another being. This watery, wavering image of Eve extends throughout Milton’s poem, and this further puts Eve in a weak position, for Eve is merely a ref...