Man above woman, or woman above man? For the entirety of human civilization, this question of gender hierarchy has been divisive issue. Regardless, Milton does not hesitate to join the heat of the battle, and project his thoughts to the world. Since the publication of Paradise Lost, many of Milton’s readers have detected in his illustration of the prelapsarian couple, particularly of Adam, a powerful patriarchal sentiment: “he for God only, and she for God in him” (Milton, IV.299). In essence, this idea declares that Adam and Eve possess unequal roles – Adam is better than Eve, as men are better than women, in accordance to the deeply conventional reading of the relations between the sexes. Eve’s purpose for Adam makes her less spiritually pure and thus farther removed from God’s grace.
Throughout literature, especially in Milton’s time, the gender disparity between men and women has been unfairly defined: men are reasonable and therefore should lead, while women are passionate and thus should be led. However, these roles have often been misinterpreted, and have resulted in the idea that only men are reason manifest, while only women are passion incarnate. For example, in The Life and Loves of a She-Devil, Bobbo is rational in his approach to solving problems – count everything in monetary value – while Ruth often cries and evokes great emotion when facing struggles (Weldon, 20-24). However, Milton does not support this conventional idea of gender roles, as oftentimes Eve takes on Adam’s role as the voice of reason in sustaining the Garden of Eden, and vice versa. In Paradise Lost, Milton refutes the hieratical construct of gender inequality, by reversing the roles of Adam and Eve in terms of reason and passion, and instead prop...
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... God’s creation in her eyes. Equally, by embodying reason, Eve is able to gain the benefits of knowledge through experience, thus bringing her closer to Adam and God. Finally, in my examination of the Paradise Lost, I could not perceive Milton’s patriarchal or misogynist sentiment, as do many of his readers. Eve’s virtues are not inferior to Adam’s, and Adam has to learn some of her virtues, as she has to learn his. In this way, Milton does not stratify the value between male and female; they are simply human. Although the question of gender hierarchy may never be aptly answered, Milton in Paradise Lost states his controversial estimation of the ideal gender relationship – equality.
Works Cited
Milton, John. Paradise Lost. Ed. Gordon Teskey. New York: Norton, W. W. &, 2005. Print.
Weldon, Fay. The Life and Loves of a She-Devil. New York: Ballantine, 1985. Print.
The two books attempt to establish an understanding of Eve as a being inferior to Adam as she is made in his image. Milton does this by pointing out how Eve "resemble[s] less/ His image who made both" (man and woman) (8.543-4) and allows Adam to call her "best image of myself" (5.95). Adam believes this as God says to him before creating Eve, "What next I bring shall please thee, be assured, / Thy likeness" (8.449-50). As it goes, in the biblical story of Genesis, man is recognized as one who has been created in the image of God, whereas woman is created from the man. In this story, God created man in his likeness and created woman from a rib of man. The book says God recognizes "it is not good for man to be alone" and decides to ."..make him a helper and partner" (Genesis 2.18). Later in the scripture man recognizes God's newest creature as "woman." In verse 23 of chapter 2, man says,
...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.
An example of Eve’s portrayal from the text is, “All who in vain things, Built their fond hopes of glory or lasting fame” this shows that she is vain (Paradise Lost, Book 3, lines 448-449). In the Bible it never describes her as a vain human being, she is not someone who is vain and self-centered. She is portrayed in the Bible as a spiritual being and as someone who is faithful to the Lord. Milton portrays Eve as a being that is not faithful and that is all about herself. This makes Paradise Lost a false doctrine because it portrays Adam and Eve as bad people who consequently partook of the fruit and made everyone suffer. This is not a right doctrine, it is not because she partook of the fruit, everything is part of the Lord’s
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.
After reading Milton’s Lost Paradise and The Book of Genesis, I noticed some similarities and many differences. Although many of the characters names and personalities were similar, the viewpoints in which these stories were written differed. For example, In Milton’s lost paradise the reader is able to actually see what the characters are thinking and their reasons for doing things, whereas in The Book of Genesis the characters actions are unpredictable. Another difference I noticed was in the Bible the source of sin begins straight from the birth of Eve and the reasons for the creation of man and woman. While in Milton’s Lost Paradise the author starts from the establishment of Satan “Who first seduc'd them to that foul revolt? Th' infernal Serpent; he it was, whose guile Stird up with Envy and Revenge, deceiv'd , The Mother of Mankind, what time his Pride Had cast him out from Heav'n, with all his Host Of Rebel Angels” (33-38). The author is referencing the source of sin to Satan, “Milton accepts, and insists on the challenge that the fall must be made believable—and acceptable—by a dramatic representation addressed to the human reasoning” (Bowers 264-273). These two stories illustrate humanity and God’s formation of earth but in contrastive ways.
In Milton’s poem we see and feel that the character of Eve is somehow not as important as the character of Adam. This is evident in the way Adam is consulted while Eve is left to herself in times of important conversations. In Book eight, Adam says that Eve is “th’ inferior, in the mind and inward faculties.” (Paradise Lost, book 8, line 317-318) Eve is a submissive character in Paradise Lost. On the other hand, Beatrice, in Dante’s The Divine Comedy, is a strong character and leads Dante. The use of numbers is very important in Dante’s poem as the number three reveals itself several times as well as the number seven. This is not a characteristic found in Paradise Lost.
Babb, Lawrence. The Moral Cosmos of Paradise Lost. [East Lansing]: Michigan State UP, 1970. Print.
Critics of the Romantic Period have claimed that John Milton was unconsciously allied with the forces of evil. In Paradise Lost Milton’s accounts of “Devils & Hell” are much more elaborate and awe inspiring than those of “Angels & God.” Hell and Satan are portrayed extensively whereas the reader is given brief and inconclusive glimpses of Heaven. The apparent dichotomy is explained by William Blake: “The reason Milton wrote in fetters when he wrote of Angels & Gods, and at liberty when of Devils & Hell, is because he was a true Poet and of the Devil’s Party without knowing it.”
In Book IX of Milton’s Paradise Lost, Eve makes a very important and revealing speech to the tree of knowledge. In it, she demonstrates the effect that the forbidden fruit has had on her. Eve’s language becomes as shameful as the nakedness that Adam and Eve would later try to cover up with fig leaves. After eating the forbidden apple, Eve’s speech is riddled with blasphemy, self-exaltation, and egocentrism.
All three authors agree that there are clear indicators of inequality that are not morally justified. One significant aspect of creation that promotes the gender inequality present today within religions, is the labeling of women. This point is countered based on the premise that one bad woman does not mean all women are bad. Thought patterns such as this in terms of a lesser than equal role for females regardless of their procreation function and physical attractiveness are based on archaic ideologies that diminish the value of women in relation to men. Finally, arguments from Genesis show that there is a system of subordination based on Eve being created from the rib of Adam. This originates all making from one source, but ultimately creates a system of inequality or hierarchical understanding. Perhaps if it was possible to create a basis for equal thought then it may be conceivable to have a hierarchy free society. Unfortunately, this fundamental understanding is not conceivable in terms of the relationship between the two forms of mankind. Ultimately there are a number of clear indicators that morally unclear implications for the relationship between men and women have been promoted through the creation story and prominent examples of its
In conclusion, Paradise Lost can be seen through a historically contextual lens that allows us to see the parallels between Milton’s life and experiences during the reign of Charles I, and the predominant themes in his epic poem. Many of the themes in Paradise Lost, from the broader situational occurrences to the behavior of individual character’s and their attitudes toward the situations in which they find themselves can be seen as directly influenced by Milton’s time as a Parliamentarian in 17th century England.
The theme of free will is highlighted at various points throughout Paradise Lost through different characters. Through each characters actions and the element of choice displayed, Milton conveys his view point that while God is omniscient and there is an eternal providence, free will his not hindered. Milton also conveys through Eve that she choose to disobey God, she does so knowing there will consequences, signifying that she does not have the full capacity to reason clearly. Despite his being aware of the paradox that free will and eternal providence present the reader, Milton did not believe that this constrained one’s understanding of Paradise Lost.
Reichert, John. Milton's Wisdom: Nature and Scripture in Paradise Lost. Ann Arbor, The University of Michigan Press. 1992
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...
Throughout Paradise Lost, Milton uses various tools of the epic to convey a traditional and very popular Biblical story. He adds his own touches to make it more of an epic and to set forth new insights into God's ways and the temptations we all face. Through his uses of love, war, heroism, and allusion, Milton crafted an epic; through his references to the Bible and his selection of Christ as the hero, he set forth a beautifully religious Renaissance work. He masterfully combined these two techniques to create a beautiful story capable of withstanding the test of time and touching its readers for centuries.