Milton's Paradise Lost, the epic poem written in blank verse by 17th-century English poet John Milton tells the biblical account of the fall of mankind. Eve is the only character in the poem who is both female and human, and Milton's portrayal of her is undeniably sexist. However, it is questionable whether this portrayal is simply a product of Milton's culture, or whether Milton is indeed a misogynist. Throughout the epic, there are many implications about the character traits of Adam and Eve that play a key role in their weaknesses that lead to the Fall. While Adam's tragic fault is loving too passionately, Eve's tragic faults are narcissism, vanity, and curiosity. This stark contrast is just one example of many that prove that Milton's discrimination against Eve as an independent and curious woman goes beyond the sexism found in the Bible or in culture of Milton and is rather the direct result of his misogyny. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Milton introduces Adam and Eve in book four. Satan sees the couple in Paradise and declares: “For contemplation he was formed with velvet; / For gentleness she and sweet attractive grace” (4.295-296). Adam is strong and curious while Eve seems shy and gentle. Satan points out these differences almost immediately after seeing them for the first time. He also hears Adam tell Eve that God must be infinitely good and that they only have one simple rule to follow, which is not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge, and Eve wholeheartedly agrees. This very first image of Eve depicted by Milton shows that Eve is a submissive woman who is not as strong, spiritual, or as intelligent as her husband, which is distinctly sexist. The belief expounded here that man is superior to woman and therefore woman should be submissive, can be seen as a reflection of Milton's society which was outwardly sexist. Milton also justifies the belief that Adam is superior to Eve on the basis of religious terms when he states, "He for God only, she for God in him" (4.297). Adam was created for God and Eve was created for both God and Adam, emphasizing that she was created for the purpose of another being and to be an object of affection. Because Eve was created from Adam's rib and this is also described in the Bible, Christianity also supported the idea during this period that Eve is a lesser part of Adam, and this has been generalized to the whole of society. After being created, Eve is “like unto man, but of different sex; such a beautiful fair” (8.471). The depiction of Eve as an innocent, Paradise-submissive woman who obeys Adam because "So God commands" represents Milton's ideal of a woman's place in marriage, although this particular image of Eve does not last very long (4.634). story that when she was born, she walked to a lake and was surprised by her own reflection. It is here that Milton's historically sexist portrayal of Eve begins to become more misogynistic in nature because he begins to associate negative qualities with Eve rather than simply stating that the sexes are unequal and therefore have different roles. Eve's experience with her reflection is an allusion to the story of Narcissus in Greek mythology, suggesting that she is vain and superficial because she is so fascinated by her own reflection. Milton's misogyny is presented here gently, but these small implications are significant because theyserve as a preface to Eve's vulnerability to Satan's temptation. However, Adam and Eve are limited by God in their knowledge of themselves and their environment. For example, Adam and Eve do not know what death is or what will happen if they eat the forbidden fruit. Therefore, Eve looking at her reflection could most likely be motivated by curiosity rather than vanity since she had never seen what she looked like before this encounter with her reflection. Therefore, Milton's implications about narcissism contradict the information he gives the reader about the primitive knowledge of Adam and Eve. God saves Eve from her own vanity and leads her to Adam, saying “follow me, / And I will bring you where no shadow remains” (4.467-468). Here Milton integrates the classical with Christianity, something he does frequently throughout the poem, as he perpetuates the image of God's benevolent presence and grace, giving them heaven and telling them how to get there. live happily. The representation of the love of Adam and Eve through the story of Milton. The eyes are interesting because their true devotion and pure love for each other is highlighted throughout the poem. The couple spends day and night together and they are perfectly happy in each other's company. Adam adores Eve to the point that his love for her becomes his ultimate weakness and leads to his downfall later in the poem. In book nine, when the two take on the task of doing their day's work, Adam would prefer to take on the work together but agrees with Eve's wish and tells her: "For solitude is sometimes the best company, / And a short retreat encourages gentleness. return” (9.249-250). It seems that Adam is obeying Eve's wishes, and it is because he loves her and wants to make her happy. Even though these are Milton's words, they are the opposite of sexist, which is intriguing. Like Eve's story of her encounter with her reflection having implications of vanity and narcissism which leads to her downfall, this event foreshadows Adam's weakness which leads to the downfall of humanity. Among the angels' teachings to Adam, they describe how he should act like the man in a relationship. In book ten, Raphael attempts to enlighten Adam when he says that Eve is "Adorned / She was indeed, and beautiful, to attract / Your love, not your submission"; (10.151-153). This is one of the most important quotes in the entire poem because it expresses Milton's view that loving a woman is acceptable but unreasonable passion is not. Indeed, passion eliminates the ability to think clearly and rationally and can compromise the hierarchy of gender roles. This is seen when Adam is head over heels in love with Eve and accepts Eve's wish to work separately. Eve's love loves Adam, but her love does not have the same sense of intensity or emotionality as Adam's. As a result, Eve can be seen as a character with a good sense of reason, but this can also make her seem cold-hearted, as she does not seem to be as in love with Adam as he is. 'She. Not all of Eve's negative attributes are significant on their own, but are more notable when considered in the context of Eve succumbing to Satan's temptation. The fall of Adam and Eve is where the sexism in Paradise Lost becomes misogyny. Eve's curiosity and independence that emerges throughout the epic is admirable because she is a woman who thinks for herself rather than simply following her husband's orders. However, when Eve separates to work individually, these characteristics are not considered an asset. In the form of a serpent, Satan calls her "Empress of this beautiful world, resplendent Eve" and begins to attract her attention withflattery (9,568). According to Milton, Eve succumbs once again to vanity. She is then convinced by the rhetoric of the serpent who moves like an ancient orator and tells him that God will admire his audacity. Eve knew that temptation awaited her, but she knew that what the serpent was telling her was indeed false. Adam and Eve are charged with worshiping God, so it is not unreasonable that Eve would be attracted to the offer of assuming divine status by eating the fruit, since they are being told to admire God. Satan's rhetoric "Entry into his heart was too easy" and, therefore, Eve essentially brought about the Fall in Milton's eyes (9.734). The misogyny becomes evident in Milton's description of Eve's later attempt to persuade Adam to eat the fruit. From Milton's perspective, because Eve has the ability to think for herself, she naturally becomes a manipulative and untrustworthy creature who lets her pride push her into giving in to the temptation she has been strictly set against. guard. Eve manages to convince Adam to eat the fruit, thus demonstrating that she holds a certain power over Adam that even God cannot transcend and which is due to the fact that she belongs to the weaker sex, or even despite it. Because Adam and Eve were not predetermined to fall according to God, it is clear that both men and women are capable of falling. Their free will in relation to the Fall is reassured in 9.291 when Eve is told “For such you are; of sin and all blame. Adam reminds us that Eve is entirely free from sin, which is significant because it represents the idea that the loss of innocence and purity in Eden is directly related to free will rather than predestination. If Satan had first tried to make Adam succumb to his temptation, Adam might also have given in just as easily. He gave in to Eve's temptation because he didn't want her to suffer alone and this appears to be a gentle and thoughtful action, which is the opposite of how Eve gives in to Satan, even though she he is just as guilty. The misogyny is clear here because Milton has a hatred for Eve and directly implies that allowing women to be independent results in vicious and malicious actions and plans on their part, even though that is not a fair description of what happened between Satan and Eve in history. Eden. After being convinced by the serpent's rhetoric, it becomes clear that Eve values ​​superficiality more than God, and this is also seen when she begins to worship the tree itself. She addresses the tree directly, saying “O sovereign, virtuous, precious of all trees / In Paradise! of the blessed operation” (9.795-796). She vows to sing and eat it every day in order to gain wisdom, just as someone worshiping the Christian God might sing and read the Bible for the same reasons. This behavior is blatantly sacrilegious, creating a stark contrast to Adam's innocence, especially before he also gives in to temptation. Following the Fall, one of Eve's punishments was to submit to Adam. However, it appears that this occurred independently of the Fall, as Adam was influenced by angels like Raphael regarding his role in the relationship. Additionally, Jesus tells Adam that it was he who was given the power to rule and not Eve, emphasizing that the Fall can also be blamed on Adam since his immense love for Eve is as damaging as Adam's vanity and curiosity. a woman. This conveys the lesson that men should be aware of the dangers of loving a woman excessively and that women should not be too curious about the world around them, which is an outwardly misogynistic worldview. Satan is the first to notice that Adam and Eve..