In Book IV of Milton’s Paradise Lost, Eve recounts her memory of her first living moments to Adam. Eve relates that upon seeing Adam, she turned around and began walking in the opposite direction. Eve then quotes the exact words Adam used to convince her to stay: “Return fair Eve! …my other half” (page 91, lines 481-488). Upon examining Adam’s words, I discovered that Adam takes advantage of Eve’s lack of knowledge when reasoning with her. He doesn’t tell her everything. He keeps a few pieces of important information to himself. Assuming all Adam’s logic is truthful and based on facts, then he has a very valid argument as to why she should stay with him. But since it is not based on substantial evidence, rather assumptions, as I will soon prove, his argument to Eve will be shown to be invalid and should be disregarded. Yet, since Eve is unaware of all the facts and has only Adam’s words to believe, Adam prevails and his reasoning wins Eve’s heart, “I yielded, and from that time see how beauty is excelled by manly grace and wisdom which alone is truly fair.” (lines 489-491)
I will begin my proof by analyzing Adam’s use of the word “lent” in “To give thee being I lent out of my side to thee.” (lines 483- 484) According to The Free Dictionary, “lent” is the past tense form of the word “lend” which means “to permit the use of (something) with the expectation of return of the same or an equivalent.” Firstly, how does Adam know that an act of loaning took place? We turn to book VIII where Adam relates his vision of Eve's creation to Raphael. He says “Mine eyes he closed… abstract as in a trance methought I saw (though sleeping where I lay),” (page 190, lines 460-463) showing that at the time, he was neither conscious nor...
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...ts Adam’s truth distortions have on Eve are quite simple. Saying he consented to the loan tells Eve that Adam did something nice for Eve that he didn’t have to do, and that without him, she would not exist. Thus, gaining her compassion and giving her an extremely strong feeling of indebtedness. Adding that what he loaned her was “substantial” life implies that she owes him something of a similar degree of importance in return, which he claims to be her. Obviously wanting to fulfill her obligation, she “reimburses” her creditor, “I yielded” (line 489).
Now it is clear that from the outset, Adam exploits Eve’s lack of knowledge in order to “Have thee by my side” (line 485). Was this the only way to accomplish his goal? Probably not. But was it the safest way (the most likely to work)? I think so, and apparently, so does Adam.
To begin with, Adam had to learn by experience. He came across many different people along the way. Such as drunk lady he met on the side of the road when he first came to church. She used him, because he was the only way she could get her liquor out of the store since she was forbidden from store. He also came across
and Eve eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, they are "awakened" and gain the insight
From the very beginning of time we have Adam and Eve from the Christian bible. The story has been told in many different ways, including in plays, and sometimes teaches more than just about god. Eve is made from one of Adam’s ribs. Once the two eat from the tree of knowledge, they are to be punished from eating the forbidden apples that introduced sin into the world. God puts the curse of bearing children on Eve, because she was the first to bite and then tempted Adam. “Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and
Adam was the first man that God created and was created to be the image of God himself. God planted the beautiful Garden of Eden in which there was no sin and the trees were filled with delicious fruits, everything a person would need to eat. In the middle of the garden was the “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.” One day, a serpent came into the garden and convinced Eve to eat an apple from the forbidden Tree of Knowledge. The fruit did not make Adam and Eve any better than they already were. Instead, the jealousy, the desire to eat what was forbidden—and then the physical eating of the fruit that was forbidden—allowed sin to enter humanity. God punished Adam and Eve, and all their descendants, by making their lives hard. Likewise, in the novel, peace and innocence left the Devon school and Gene and Finny's friendship, and after the winter session, discipline and hard work began. Eve eating the apple can be paralleled to Gene jostling the limb of the tree while Phineas was standing on the edge of it for in that second, both of their lives ch...
Now, to the untrained eye, it may be possible to interpret the aforementioned text as having certain "scheisty" tendencies coming from both the serpent and, believe it or not, God himself. As possible as it may seem, the main theme of the passages of Genesis are not trying to show God as being greedy with the knowledge of good and evil. It isn't like God was worried that Adam and Eve would gain knowledge that would empower them and make them as gods. That is almost preposterous to think that God, the almighty creator of heaven and earth, would be worried about two mortals obtaining a little bit of information. In all actuality, that idea is incredibly far from the truth. God gave Adam and Eve the world, literally. This perfect world, a "heaven on earth", was just given to them out of the goodness of his heart. All they had to do was look over God's creations and enjoy true eternal bliss. As a matter of fact, the only rule that God gave to Adam and Eve was to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. All they had to do to live in the eternal paradise, with all the cookies and milk they could stomach, was to follow that one freakin' rule. Acknowledging the fact that the serpent (a.k.a. Satan Incarnate) did do its part in persuading Eve to eat the fruit and to give the fruit to her husband. Even still, Eve should have realized that she was risking eternal happiness for the words of a snake.
Adam and Eve in the Book of Genesis not only mark a loss of innocence, but for years the story has been used as a biblical teaching. It is an important story that sets up a relationship between God and mankind. The story begins with the phrase, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth," (Pagels, xi). From the opening words of the story God is deemed as the creator. He is the creator, the absolute being from which all other things are created. In the process of God's creation, he repeats the phrase "according to its/their kind," (Pagels, xi). He does this to emphasize that each creature has its own unique function, and to establish that there are limits and boundaries to each creatures existence.
In Paradise Lost, one of the differences God is aware of the betrayal his creations unlike Frankenstein. There is a point where Adam desires a companion to share the world with, thus God creates Eve from one of Adam’s ribs. He is in a predicament now, due to there are now two beings to love now, but who deserves the more affection. He “can neither love himself adequately nor love Eve as himself unless have love God adequately – and so make his love for Eve, the unity of their shared self, an expression of that higher love” (Gross 95). This scene displays one of Adam’s limitations of his free will. Thus creating her in being the submissive which eventually became her downfall, Adam’s and the rest of humanity. Eve is flawed, she has the inclination of self-love, a quality she should not be capable of possessing or acting upon. The only love that she should be expressing is her love for Adam in a way also loving God. This becomes their weakness. Satan learns about this weakness and exploits it as his advantage to enact his scheme. He influences a susceptible Eve, by coercing her into eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge. He claims to Eve about the fruit “By the fruit? It gives you life To knowledge by the threat’ner? Look on me, Me, who have touched and tasted; yet both live” (Book 9 l. 686-688). Satan is able to persuade them to consume the fruit that provides them
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.
He claims that Eve suffered a harsher punishment, believed she resembled God, and caused Adam’s sin. According to Foscarini, Eve sinned from ignorance and inconstancy. He backs up his argument by stating Eve is not excused because of her ignorance and is more knowledgeable than given credit, since God created her. Foscarini says that in the Bible, the serpent approached Eve with a question rather than through persuasion, meaning Eve simply answered a question and unknowingly fell into a trap. Although Adam was assigned to protect her, Eve is not off the hook. Eve’s pride caused the sin, since the devil promised her knowledge, which made her arrogant and inflated her pride. Eve receives the same consequences as Adam, in addition she must also be in pain while birthing a child. In conclusion, Eve’s punishment should be greater than Adam’s. Ludovico argues that all of Adam’s faults are her responsibility. He references a quote from Aristotle, “the cause of a cause is the cause of that which is caused” (Bartlett, 92). This quote explains that Adam’s sin, which Eve caused, resulted in original sin. Since Adam followed Eve’s example, Eve would take responsibility in the first place, therefore her sin was more serious. As Foscarini states, “she deceived her husband more than the serpent would deceive him” (Bartlett, 92). He supports his claim by quoting Christ, “They who have betrayed me to you have
The serpent even states to Eve that “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (NIV, Gen 3:5). The next few lines are completely different from what is shown by Milton. It says that when Eve saw that the fruit was good and she began to desire wisdom she took some and ate it. Then she game some to Adam who was with her. This is a very large contrast from Milton’s work because this shows that Adam was present the whole time of the serpent and Eve’s discussion. In the poem “Verses for Madonna of humility with the temptation of Eve” Lynn Powell takes a very graphic and almost nostalgic look at the story of Adam and Eve. Her poem states “Eve 's lying at eye level, propped up on an elbow./And never has abyss been so good to pink,/ the void a perfect foil for her foreground flesh./She fits into the black like a woman/ ready to be skewered in a vaudeville act./ You can tell the painter loves her, the way/ You can tell the painter loves her/ he 's touched her every place he can with paint./ And he 's noticed what she 's thinking:/ holding the pear, as Hamlet did the skull,/ while gazing up at someone who 's got everything to lose./ Eve 's about to make the choice Mary has to live with./
God knew that since both Adam and Eve had now gained knowledge of both good and evil they would soon learn to really appreciate life and all it has to offer. And for this reason the couple was expelled from paradise. Had Eve ignored the serpent and refused to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil perhaps civilization would still exist as nirvana. However happiness and in effect perfection is relative. A beautiful spring day is only as beautiful as the worst s...
She finally was convinced and ate the fruit. Eve was to busy be devouring the fruit. Maybe it was the best fruit she ever tasted, or maybe she just imagined it because she expected it to be since Satan insisted it was. Eve honestly thought she will grow smarter and smarter till she is like a God who knows everything. Eve said “Till dieted by thee I grow mature in knowledge, as the Gods who all things know” (Book IX, lines 803-804). Eve was convinced with Satan arguments completely.
While in the Garden the serpent says to Eve, “… but God knows that as soon as you eat of it your eyes will be open and you will be like divine beings who know of good and bad” (Genesis 3.13 Line 5). The serpent makes an appealing temptation to Eve, saying that they can have what God has, and can be like God. This temptation caused Eve to eat the fruit and also gives it to Adam. The serpent was not lying when explaining this to the woman but put the thought into her head. Being God like, and having the knowledge of good and bad could be an appealing thing to have, so Eve ate the fruit disobeying
Eve considers the tree a great gift. However, because of the influence of the serpent, she does not consider it a gift from God. The serpent has caused her to believe that God did not give the tree to Adam and Eve because it was not his to give. Therefore, Eve supposes that God must “envy what [he] cannot give: / For had the gift been [his], it had not here / Thus grown” (ln 805-7). In other words, she argues that if God had had possession of this tree, he would not have left it where it is. Therefore, according to Eve’s manipulated reasoning, God must not have the knowledge that the tree bestow...
...nces for straying from God and it is because of this that his mind further and further spirals downward. On the other hand, Adam and Eve manage to realize the scope of God’s power and thus rewarded by God’s grace.