" Paradise Lost " (Book XI) Character Analysis of Eve

Assignment 1 :- "Paradise Lost" character analysis of 'Eve'

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Name :- Gohil Devangiba A.

Roll No. :- 16, Sem.-1

Paper No. :- 1 ( The Renaissance Literature )

Topic :- " Paradise Lost " Character of Eve

Submitted To :- Dept. of English

" Paradise Lost " (Book XI) Character Analysis of Eve

             

          John Milton's purpose behind to write " Paradise Lost " is to tell about The fall of man and justify God's ways to man.

          Eve is most important character in ' Paradise Lost ' ( Book XI ) Milton begins his epic in traditional way.  When Satan and other rebellious angles awake to find themselves in Hell on a lack of fire. Satan in council, tell the other angles and demons that their next move is against God. And we can also see in the epic that Satan duping Eve.

          Eve is a similar character as a Adam. God tell to Adam to created Eve his rib as a helpmeet. Eve is a beautiful, wise and able. She is a superior to Adam in only in her beauty. From the time of her creation, when she first time saw her beauty in the reflection of river she was fall in love with herself.  In the Greek mythology Narcissus- a mythological figure  who fell in love with his own reflection and died as a result - God leads her away. Trough the character of Eve Milton represent the Narcissism, (excessive interest in or admiration of oneself and one's physical appearance) Eve is linked to the flaw of vanity, and Satan as the serpent will use this defect against her.

          Before the fall of Eve, she is generally presented as subservient to Adam, to some extent Eve totally dependent on him. Her reasoning ability  are not as completely realized as Adam. However, Milton is no way suggest a lack of intelligence on Eve's part. Eve listen to Raphael's explanation of the war in Heaven and the overpower of the disobedient angels. When the conversation turns to more theoretical questions of creating and planetary motion at the start of Book VIII, Eve walks away to tend her Garden. Milton is quick to note, however,

          " Yet went she not, as not with such discourse

             Delighted, or not capable of her ear

             Of what was high: such pleasures she reserv'd, "

                                                               (VIII, 48 - 50)

          Milton also write about Eve's that "our credulous mother" , an an threatening name because we learn that Satan's words "too easy entrance found" their way into her heart. Then there's all the substance about how Adam is somehow more ideal because he was created first and resembles God more than she does.

          In other words, Eve is completely able of comprehending the abstruse subject, but she prefers hearing the ideas from Adam alone. The indirect idea here is that Eve understands her position in the hierarchical arrangement and leaves this discussion so that she will in no way appropriate Adam's place with angel.

          Eve  character is more intelligent than the Adam. Eve does not have a tendency now and then to question Adam, but she does  so in a rational, respectful manner. In Book IX, such questioning leads to temptation. Eve tell  Adam at the start of Book IX that they can do more work if they work separately.  Adam knows that Eve is more likely to be tricked by Satan if she is alone and argues against separation. His love for Eve, though, allows him to be persuaded, and against his better decision, he lets her go. Most critics see this action on Adam's part as another example of his uxoriousness; he yields to eve's argument, not because her argument is better, but because he does not want to hurt her feelings. On the other side, Eve wins the argument by intentionally using her compensation over Adam. Eve sets herself up for the fall and is not the same to the task of the dealing with Satan by herself.

          Eve yields to the attraction through a combination of flowering words and sophistic argument by the serpent. Satan is glad to find Eve alone and acknowledges that Adam would be a much more hard opponent. Stan knows Eve's weak points and plays on them. She is charmed by him and can not defect the flaws in his arguments.

Satan convinced the Eve to eat the forbidden fruit by telling that he was serpent and also see the effect of fruit in her body because of eating the fruit he was talking and thinking like man and on the other side Eve is a human so think about the effect on human body of this fruit. Eve thinks that by eating fruit she was get more knowledge and she became intelligence.

       " Gave elocution to the mute, and taught

          The tongue not made for speech to speak thy praise.

        thy praise he also who forbids thy use

        Conceals not from us, naming thee the Tree

        Of Knowledge, knowledge both of Good and Evil; "

And when she eat the forbidden fruit the atmosphere of nature is totally changed. Milton beautifully describes that what happened when Eve eat the fruit.

          " So saying, her rash hand in evil hour

           Forth - reaching to the Fruit, she plucked, she eat.

           Earth felt the wound, and Nature from her seat,    

                   Sighing through all her works, gave sings of woe

                   That all was lost. "

          After she eats the fruit, Eve instantly changes. She begins to think of ways of becoming Adam's equal or perhaps his superior. But she is fearful of losing Adam to another female creation, she decides that he must eat the fruit also. Adam does so but not because of Eve's arguments. He eats willfully because he is unwilling to be parted from Eve.

          Eve eat a first bite of forbidden fruit and then he convinced to eat the fruit for Adam. Eve eat this fruit by his curiosity and independence. And she is the one who eats the fruit first time that is why god gives  more punishment than the Adam that is why when female give a birth to the new life she passing away in painful process. she makes a logical arguments with serpent and Adam.

          After the fall of Eve, Adam  became a more acrimonious and miserable. However, her love for Adam initiates the regeneration of the pair. She apologizes, and her love causes a change in Adam; they can face the future together. Eve is also glorified by being told that her seed will eventually destroy Satan, though her position in relation to Adam is made clear when Michael puts her to sleep while he shows Adam the vision of the future.

          Eve's intelligence and spiritual purity are constantly tested. She is not unintelligent, but she is not determined to learn, content to be guided by Adam as God intended. As a result, she does not ambitious to  learn, content to be guided by Adam as God intended. As a result, she does not become more intelligent or learned as the story progresses, though she does attain the start of knowledge by the end of the poem. Her lack of learning  is partly due to her absence for most of Raphael's discussions with Adam in Books V, VI and VII and also does not see he visions Michael shows Adam in Books XI and XII.

          Eve's strengths are her ability for love, emotion, and patience. She persuades Adam to stay with her after the fall, and Adam in turn dissuades her from committing suicide, as they begin to work together as a powerful unit. Eve complements Adam's strengths and corrects his weaknesses. Thus, Milton does not disparage all women through his representation of Eve. Rather he explores the position of women in his society and the optimistic and important role he felt they could offer in the divine blending of marriage.

          Eve is certainly not a feminist heroine. Like so many characters in the epic, she has an assigned part in the hierarchy    of the universe. Milton does not disparage women through the character of Eve; he simply the thought of his times as to the role of women in the social order. Eve has as many important responsibilities as Adam, but in the hierarchy, she falls just underneath him.

          In the " Paradise Lost " ( Book XI ) John Milton wonderfully described the character of Eve and he also represents his point of view about the position of women in our society.

                      

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