I want to look at the perspective of Eve's nature through contrasting her decisions and fate with Satan's to show that Eve's weaknesses end up becoming her strengths, and without them, though the fall may not have happened, redemption would have not been possible without application of those same weaknesses.
Thesis:
While Eve's portrayal in Paradise
Lost seems to set women as the
weaker gender, the great irony of Milton's epic poem is that it
ennobles weakness and degrades strength; Eve finds redemption
in her “weakness”, while Satan remains fallen because of his
“strength”.
Quotes:
“All is not lost; the unconquerable
will, And study of revenge, immortal hate, And courage never to
submit or yield: And what is else not to be overcome?”
Book 2 Lines 106-109
“O then at last relent: is there no
place Left for repentance, none for pardon left? None left but by
submission; and that word Disdain forbids me, and my dread of shame
Among the spirits beneath, whom I seduced With other promises and
other vaunts Than to submit, boasting I could subdue Th’
Omnipotent.”
Book 4: 78-88
“But what if God have seen, And death
ensue? Then I shall be no more, And Adam wedded to another Eve, Shall
live with her enjoying, I extinct; A death to think. Confirmed then I
resolve; Adam shall share with me in bliss or woe: So dear I love
him, that with him all deaths I could endure, without him live no
life.”
Book 9: 826-833 (dependance on Adam)
Adam “And me with thee hath ruined,
for with thee Certain my resolution is to die; How can I live without
thee, how forgo Thy sweet converse and love so dearly joined, To live
again in these wild woods forlorn?”
Book 9: 906-910
Basic outline:
- Introduction
- CharacterizationsA. Weakness of EveB. Strength of Satan
- Two fallsA. Eve's decisionsB. Satan's decisions
- One RedemptionA. Eve's dependenceB. Satan's refusal to submit
- Conclusion
Remember that in order to get full credit you'll have to compare it to at least one other piece that Milton wrote besides Paradise Lost. Maybe consider Comus? That being said, the outline is very concise and will be good for a short paper. Also, most of the quotes are about Eve. Maybe look up another one for Satan.
ReplyDeleteInteresting thoughts. Can't wait to read it.
As I've been thinking about my topic, I've decided that Eve and Satan are really the only dynamic characters in Paradise Lost, so I'll be excited to read your comparisons of the two. One point that you might be able to touch upon is their mutual appeals to reason, which in the end kind of bring about the Fall. Also, in what ways do you see Eve's and Satan's decisions prior to their respective falls as similar (or different)? I see one aspect of that being that Eve wanted to become better than Adam (just like Satan wants to ascend above the throne of God), but are there other facets of that comparison?
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