Compare And Contrast Eve And Paradise Lost

In episode IX of Paradise Lost by John Milton, Milton begins Adam and Eve’s act of disobedience towards God. The story begins with Satan’s return to the Garden of Eden the night after Raphael’s departure. Satan considers what disguise he should take on, and chooses to become a snake. Satan thinks that Earth is more beautiful than Heaven ever was, and becomes jealous of Adam and Eve. The next morning, Adam and Eve are preparing for their usual work load. Eve suggests that they work separately, Adam does not necessarily like the idea. He fears that if they are alone they can be more easily tested by Satan. Eve, however, wants to have her strength tested. Adam finally agrees. Satan, finds Eve alone and begins flattering her. Eve is amazed that

He knows that they are now doomed, but immediately decides that he cannot live without Eve. Eve wants him to suffer the same fate as she. Adam eats the fruit. Both the Bible and Paradise Lost hold Adam and Eve at fault. But, both accounts place one of them in a more negative account. In the Bible, Adam is held in a more negative light, whereas in Paradise Lost, Eve is put into a more negative light. Neither of these depictions is correct, neither source hold them both in contempt for their actions they both committed. It is always one person’s fault, which is not accurate when both partook in the fateful eating of the fruit. In Genesis, the story of Adam and Eve is first shown. It is a slight contrast from the Paradise story, mainly because there is not actually ever a mention of the name Satan, there is only a reference to the serpent. Also there is no mention of Satan looking for an animal to take the form of it only shows the serpent and Eve together and how Satan begins asking questions to Eve. There was no flattery mentioned in the Bible. Only knowledge is mentioned as a side effect of eating the apple.

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./