Paradise Lost Misogynist Analysis

The Book of Genesis is an introductive biblical passage in the Old Testament that summarizes the creation of the universe, humanity, and the downfall of man. Writer John Milton gives an alternate version of this phenomenon in his epic Paradise Lost that illustrates not only the consequences of disobedience from God, but the distinct gender differences between men and women. Through the perspective of feminist literary criticism, the portrayal of male domination and the inferiority of women are exemplified by the status, stereotypes, and roles women are assigned in Literature that has consequently transcended into western

Milton’s Paradise Lost has been praised as being the greatest English epic of all time, most stunningly in its author's depiction of the parents of humanity, Adam and Eve. How Milton chose to portray the original mother and father has been a focus of much criticism with contemporary readers. One of the main subjects of these comments is in reference to Eve, who, according to many, is a trivial character that is most definitely inferior to her mate. Nonetheless, many do not recognize that, after the fateful Fall, she becomes a much more evolved character. When Eve is introduced to the storyline of the epic, her character is shallow and extremely undeveloped, meant simply for display. She is quite firmly set as being inferior to her mate

    The seventeenth century poet, John Milton, takes the attitude common to the time period while portraying Eve in Paradise Lost.  This epic, telling of Adam and Eve's fall from Paradise and the story of creation, constantly describes Eve as a weak individual, while Adam is often compared with God.  The idea of women's inferiority has been fixed through time, making Milton's characterization of Eve not surprising, but rather expected and accepted.  However, Milton shows a suggestion of women's inner strength while describing the control Eve has over Adam.  Nevertheless, except for this instance, Eve is depicted as subordinate to Adam.  This is evident through Adam and Raphael's treatment

Misogyny is a degrading form of gender oppression that plagues the view of women in society. This notions’ relevancy to Euripides’ Ancient Greek tragedy, Medea, is debated. This tragedy focuses on a woman named Medea who was so driven by her emotions that it led to the passionate and vengeful act of filicide- the killing of of one’s own children. Euripides' portrayal of Medea and women in general leads people believe he is misogynist- a person with a hostile outlook on women. Others believe his portrayal show that he is a promoter of women's rights and equality who are limited by their patriarchal society- a society in which men hold authority in every aspect. Clearly, Euripides' portrayal of women show his misogyny because women were ultimately

Eve has been a powerful female figure throughout history and provoked so many female authors because she is depicted as the first woman, made from the rib of the first man, Adam. Since Eve was the first, and mother to all women, she was preserved to have passed on an evil nature to all women after tasting the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge and asking Adam to as well. Women have invested their time in Eve’s defense by arguing that it was not the fault of Eve alone, and that if Adam was supposed the be a symbol of strength, and wisdom, then he should been able to see through Eve’s fruit and the trickery of the serpent. The story bible has been used as a symbol of oppression for women by the word of God being law in the Christian

When the “Founding Fathers” of America laid the foundation of the United States, they strove to create a society in which “all men are created equal” (Jefferson, n.p.). Despite this noble ideology, however, the subordinate status of women at the time as well as a booming slave trade prevented our nation from truly achieving this utopian vision. Now, over 200 years later, modern-day America still struggles in achieving true equality for all citizens. While women in the United States have inched closer to equality than ever before and appear to possess the same rights as men, underlying issues persist. Lingering concepts of traditional gender roles, a disturbing sexual double standard effectively encouraging “rape culture,” and the fact that women still receive less than men for the same vocation combine to prevent true equality of the sexes even today. Various literary, musical, and visual forms of art reinforce and perpetuate notions of female inferiority in the minds of many individuals using a plethora of techniques. John Milton’s Paradise Lost (1667, 1674) and Temptation of Adam and Eve (1425) by Masolino, for example, appear to accomplish this by tying sexism to the Fall of humanity in the Garden of Eden. On one hand, both Milton’s epic poem and Masolino’s Fresco point to the idea that Eve, and therefore woman, should be blamed for original sin. However, the Biblical account of original sin in Genesis and Milton’s emphasis on free will in multiple writings imply

In Early Modern England, the idea of men being superior to women was thought to be a God-given law. Sexism, though not yet coined as an English word at the time, was very prevalent in this time period and bled into the writing it produced. John Milton’s Paradise Lost is no exception to this, as it explores human sexuality and gender roles. It has been argued that when Adam and Eve are described as “Two of far nobler shape erect and tall,/ Godlike erect” (4.288-289) there is no distinction between the two, and that they are being portrayed, even by Satan, as equal. This is the reader’s first introduction to Eve who, based on these two lines from Paradise Lost, is Adam’s equivalent in power and in majesty. However, this passage cannot be isolated and taken as the theme of the entire epic work: Milton goes right on to convey “Milton’s idea that true freedom involves obedience to natural superiors” (Milton, p. 2009, footnote 9) by saying that there is “true authority in men” (4.295). Throughout Paradise Lost, Milton shows stark contrast between Adam and Eve, overall implying that Eve is a less perfect character. In his epic poem, Milton makes Eve out to be the misogynistic image of a simple, subordinate woman by showing her as being distanced from God, trained to be obedient to men, and conveying the negative outcomes that transpire when Eve is persuaded into making her own decision.

In Paradise Lost written by John Milton, we are introduced to a very sexist form of women-kind through the character Eve. Relating to the traditional biblical story about the fall of humans, Eve is of course at the forefront of blame for this. It was Eve who convinced Adam to eat an apple that God had forbidden them to eat. While the general reading was to regard Eve as the weaker of the sexes, in Aemilia Lanyer's poem titled "Eve's Apology in Defense of Women," we see a different way of regarding Eve and thus the female sex. All in all, both of these stories decide to blame one of the sexes the most instead of looking at the faults of both sexes.

More specially, Daly explained that in the story of Adam and Eve, because Eve was both created from the rib of Adam and assumed the role of temptress of the Garden that she was automatically inferior and damned for being the cause of all evil in mankind (Daly, 44-45). She then argued that because Judaism and Christianity (Believers of Adam and Eve) are both male dominated religions, instead of the story being about the two original sinners the focus was completely on Eve and how she coerced Adam to eat the apple (Daly 44-45). However, as where Daly focused on the effects of Western demonization of women through the story of Adam and Eve, that is not the only example of misogyny in Western culture.

Throughout time, society has always been prejudice towards women and their characteristics. With regards to Adam and Eve, the Biblical story in which God created two humans (Adam and Eve) and positioned them in a beautiful garden called the ‘Garden of Eden ', since then people have associated the story to being sexist and prejudice towards women. When Eve disobeyed God about eating fruit from the tree of knowledge and forced Adam to also eat from it too, women since then have been considered as being temptresses; manipulative and associated with evil behaviour. This stereotype is reinforced by the female characters in Shakespeare 's ‘Macbeth ' and Steinbeck 's ‘Of Mice and Men '.

But no wonder if a fool should fall for a female and be wiped of his wits by a womanly guile—it’s the way of the world. Adam fell for a woman and Solomon for several, and as for Samson, Delilah was his downfall, and afterwards David was bamboozled by Bathsheba and bore the grief. All wrecked and ruined by their wrongs; if only we could love our ladies without believing their lies. And those were fellows from fortunate families, excellent beyond all others existing under heaven, yet all were charmed and changed by wily womankind. I suffered just the same, so clear me of my crime.

The portrayal of women in Milton’s Paradise Lost is very different from the other works. While women are often seen as being deceitful, devious, and smart, the depiction of Eve is different as she is seen as being dumber and more inferior to Adam in all areas besides beauty. This portrayal of Eve assisted in the progression of Paradise Lost as Eve ate the forbidden apple after being persuaded by Satan to eat the apple. While the incident caused Adam to also disobey God, it created a bond between Adam and Eve that was greater than before the incident when they were considered pure. The bond between Adam and Eve that is improved through the learning of new emotions, trying new things, and the

Man above woman, or woman above man? For the entirety of human civilization, this question of gender hierarchy has been divisive issue. Regardless, Milton does not hesitate to join the heat of the battle, and project his thoughts to the world. Since the publication of Paradise Lost, many of Milton’s readers have detected in his illustration of the prelapsarian couple, particularly of Adam, a powerful patriarchal sentiment: “he for God only, and she for God in him” (Milton, IV.299). In essence, this idea declares that Adam and Eve possess unequal roles – Adam is better than Eve, as men are better than women, in accordance to the deeply conventional reading of the relations between the sexes. Eve’s purpose for Adam makes her less

In addition to this, Milton attempts to demonstrate Eve as being one "inferior, in the mind / And inward faculties" compared to Adam (8.541-2). Milton claims that Eve abandons the conversation between Adam and Raphael because she cannot comprehend what he and Adam are discussing. She rather would have Adam explain it to her later as she cannot understand their "thoughts abstruse" unless they are "intermixed with grateful digressions" and "conjugal caresses" of Adam (8.39-57). This idea, present in both works, removes woman from the same hierarchical plane of spirituality with man. This states that she must look to him for an understanding of God. Milton's implication of Eve's spiritual inferiority is recognized here as Eve does not hear directly from the angel Raphael, but learns of the "forbidden" from her husband. This demonstrates the authors adherence to biblical text as he supports the idea that Adam is

Now I will talk about how milton portrayed eve in his writing. Milton sees Eve as Narcissus. For many hundreds of years, the female has been seen as the weaker sex the gentle sex, the docile sex, even the less intelligent sex. And this is because, for many hundreds of years, the societies that humanity lived in were based mainly on survival. Necessity of women remained in the home in order to further the mere survival of the species, while men were in charge of providing for this family unit. Through this situation, men developed an egocentric view of life, seeing themselves as the centers of their own microcosms. Humans always look for someone else on whom to place the blame any man would be pleased if he were able to place all of the evil of humanity on to a poor decision made by a woman. This view of Eve makes her a flat and undeveloped character. She is vain, falls in love with herself at first sight in the glimmering pool, and can barely stand to tear herself away from the water to be with Adam. As usual, this episode of her self-absorbed conceit only contributes to the already growing compassion for Adam,