The Temptation of Eve in Milton’s Paradise Lost Essay -- Paradise Lost

The Temptation of evening in Miltons nirvana LostDream not of other worlds, the angel Raphael warns transport in Miltonss Paradise Lost (VIII.175). Eve, however, dreams of another world in which she will gain knowledge and power, a wish that is superficially fulfilled when she succumbs to dickenss temptation and eats from the Tree of Knowledge. Awakening in the Garden of Eden as though from a dream, Eve searches for her identity and her place in Paradise. Satan provides Eve with a chance to gain knowledge and to become god-like. As Eve is not an equal companion for Adam, she seeks independence from her husband. Shifting her loyalty away from God and Adam and towards Satan and the Tree of Knowledge, Eve strives to find her identity in the Garden of Eden, gain knowledge and godliness, and obtain independence from her unequal league with Adam. In Book IV, Eve recalls awakening to consciousness but she is uncertain of her identity and of her place in the Garden of Eden. Eves f irst thoughts are of where and what she was, whence at that place 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 Gods 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 Miltons poem, and this further puts Eve in a debile position, for Eve is merely a ref... ...to this seduction because she wishes for an alternate world, a world where she would understand her identity, shed her navet, and gain independence from Adam. God and Adam try to conquer Eve by imposing rules and ownership upon h er, but this does not work. The mother of all mankind falls from her state of grace and pureness when she perceives that she will gain from her seduction by Satan and by disobeying God and Adam.Works and Sorces CitedFrye, Roland Mushat. God, Man, and Satan. Princeton Princeton University Press, 1960.Langford, Larry L. Adam and the subversion of paradise. Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, 34 1 (1994) 119-135.Milton, John. Paradise Lost. 1674. Norton Anthology of English Literature. 7th ed. 2 vols. New York Norton, 2000, 1 1817-2044.Wright, B.A. Miltons Paradise Lost. London Methuen & Co. Ltd, 1962.