Paradise Lost Equality Analysis

Equality Within Paradise Lost
While Milton’s retelling of the biblical tale of man’s origin within Paradise Lost is true to the bible, he manages to reinvent it in a slightly different manner – a manner that brings to light new questions about the roles Adam and Eve played in the fall of human kind. Speaking more specifically, his retelling of the fall of man seems to bring up questions about how gender operates within the biblical world and how it may relate to the time Milton comes from. At face value, the portrayal of Eve suggests that she is inferior and subordinate to Adam. There seems to be a stark contrast between Adam and Eve: where Adam is strong, rational, and intelligent, Eve is naïve and narcissistic. These differences between Adam
From the moment that Eve was first created she is immediately portrayed as inferior to Adam. The very premise of why Eve is created suggest she is inferior because it was only after Adam began to grow lonely that he asked God, and it was only after this that God created Eve in Adam’s image, .Despite Eve supposedly having these qualities mentioned, she is created under much different circumstances than Adam. While Adam is created from nothing in the image of God, Eve is created from one of Adam’s ribs, from which God,. It is here and when Eve is later referred to as that leads the reader to believe that Eve is a lesser creation than Adam (8, 496-497). While Adam is created directly by God, Eve came from Adam only through his rib and by his suggestion, as seen when Milton states. However, it is not only the creation of Eve that suggests inferiority to Adam, but the difference of how Adam and Eve wake up as well. Adam wakes up on soft grass with the sun shining down on him and from where he awakes, he is able to see all of God’s creation and be glad in it. Immediately, Adam is able to see his place in the world and feel like a part of it. Eve on the other hand, awakes alone and is out of the light of God (4, 449). Eve is left alone to figure out who she is and her place in the world. While Adam is given a view to understand his place, all Eve is given is a pool of water. It is this pool of water
The text seems to suggest that her reaction to the pool is indicative of a fatal feminine flaw, narcissism. When Eve sees her reflection in the water, she is captivated by the beauty of the image and only tears her eyes away once she is told it is her reflection. This is usually perceived as Eve becoming self-absorbed and vain. This is pointed to as the fatal flaw that allows her to fall to the temptation of Satan and while this can be read as misogynistic, it can also simply be that her captivation was simply a limitation of her knowledge. As she gazed into the pool, she believed that she was looking at another being and another sky, “Smooth lake, that to me seemed another sky. /As I bent down to look, just opposite /A shape within the watery gleam appeared, /Bending to look on me: I started back /It started back; but pleased I soon returned /Pleased it returned as soon with answering looks /Of sympathy and love: There I had fixed /Mine eyes till now” (4, 457-464). At no time in the passage does Eve show interest in herself other than asking initially who she is. While this does show that she is foolish, it is hard to say if she is truly narcissistic. As she gazes into the pool, she is captivated by the reflection’s radiating love and sympathy. The fact that she is enamored with the love and sympathy coming from a human source speaks clearly about her moral