Misogyny and Eve in Paradise Lost
Misogyny is evident from the beginning of Paradise Lost. Eve was always made to look inferior mentally, physically and spiritually. In her quest to go off alone in the garden she wanted to prove that she was capable of being alone by herself without Adam; had she not been made to feel inferior she would not have felt the need to eat from the apple to equal Adam's intellect. Eve is not less in intelligence, she is curious and resourceful at times. What may have held her back is lack of self-esteem and experience. Knowledge was kept back from Eve and her company was limited to Adam who being the only one who could inform her repressed some of his knowledge. She was not able to fully enjoy conversation with any celestial being or feel that she had a significant role in the garden because of this. Eve was more prone to eat the apple to compensate for the lack of knowledge that she acquired once eating the fruit. Adam had to follow Eve because the fall was tailored to their flaws; hers was not just vanity but lack of wisdom and esteem and she was tempted with knowledge and she ate to be equal to Adam. Adam was more attached to Eve and could not bear the loss of living without her so he then ate from the apple to be with her
Eve tries to show that she wants to contribute to the garden and do something for herself when she mentions to Adam that they should divide the work. This shows that Eve is willing to have more responsibilities and independence. Adam does not want to do this fearing that she should "leave not the faithful side that gave thee being, still shades thee and protects the wife...safest and seemliest by her husband stays" He eventually agrees to let her go off by herself but again we see that she has a lack of intellectual self esteem she admits it when she goes, assuring Adam that their proud foe would not seek her first, since she is the weaker one and he'd be ashamed to go after the easy target. In reality Eve was an easy target for the serpent because he actually spoke to her when no one else but Adam did. She shows excitement to see that an animal is praising her so highly. I think the snake praises her beauty because he knows that she may feel minor intellectually and makes up for it with beauty, he also makes up for the lack of company. What he uses to convince Eve is that he lied about eating the fruit first. She says to him "Serpent thy overpraising leaves in doubt The virtue of that fruit, in thee first proved:" She sees then that he is perfectly conscious and able to speak with humans; something that no other animal possesses. She also sees that he is not dead although I don't think that she fully understands the concept of death. Eve decides it must not be as bad as she thought. Upon eating the fruit she wants to be able to have knowledge she even wonders if she should tell Adam she says "In female sex, the more to draw his love and render me more equal". Had Eve felt compatible with Adam's intelligence she would not have eaten the fruit. Though often hinting at Eve's inferiority, even the archangel bluntly says it. Raphael orders Adam to, "warn thy weaker" (VI 908). He remarks on Eve's need to stay close to Adam. Adam says, "The wife, where danger or dishonor lurks, Safest and seemliest by her husband stays, Who guards her, or with her the worst endures" (IX 267). Thus, once again the theme of the strong man prote
Some common words found in the essay are:
Eve God, L472 Eve, Lost Eve, Adam's God's, Adam Adam, God Adam, Raphael Adam, God God, Interestingly Eve's, Tree Knowledge, eating fruit, contrast adam's creation, equal adam's, lack knowledge, thou art, adam adam, conversation celestial, adam's creation, raphael adam, eve's inferiority, easy target, seemliest husband stays,
Approximate Word count = 1451
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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