Ecofeminism and john milton’s paradise lost assignment

When God gives control of the world to man, he says “ Not only these fair mounds but all the Earth / To Thee and to thy race give,” (Milton 186). Thus, responsibility to care for the world is bestowed upon man. Adam names each species and determines their nature, so although they existed before him, he gives them importance. If Adam shows any awe or appreciation for God’s creations, it is not expressed in either Genesis or Paradise Lost. Instead, he takes his superiority for granted. He sees himself as God’s substitute; his brutish earthly companions are unfit for companionship because they are so unequal to him.

In response, God creates Eve. This perpetuates the idea that tauter is inherently inferior to man, justifying its degradation and mistreatment. Female subordination is a phenomenon that transcends time, place, and culture. Though great strides towards equality have been made, women still do not share equal status with men, especially in developing countries. Men occupy the public sphere, taking leadership roles and working while women are confined to the private sphere, making the home and caring for the children. Many religions, including Christianity, are rooted in these divided gender roles.

He manipulates the apple, a simple fruit, into a loaded object that determines the fate of humankind. He transforms the nature of the apple into an object that is desired yet ultimately leads to undesirable consequences. Though it is Satan who convinces Eve to eat of the Tree of Knowledge, it is the apple that carries the stigma of the fall from the Garden of Eden and has the lasting reputation of the forbidden fruit. Thus, God uses the natural world as a tool by which to influence mankind, showing its total domination by human needs and purposes.

Eve is both vilified and vindicated in her role in man’s downfall, both of which demean Eve in her position to Adam. Satan, in the form of the snake, risks Eve into eating from the Tree of Knowledge. Eve then decides whether to share the apple with Adam or not. On one hand, by eating the apple she has become equal, or even superior to Adam: … The more to draw his love And render me more equal, and, perhaps A thing not undesirable, sometime Superior: for who inferior is free? (Milton 219) Clearly, Eve understands her subordinate position to Adam and seeks to shift the dynamics in their relationship in her favor.

Eve and the serpent are similarly victimized as evil characters wrongfully. Examined through the lens of expressionism, parallels between Eve’s subordination to Adam and man’s normalization of the environment are evident. The apple and the snake, representing the natural world, are manipulated into tempting, evil beings to suit the will of God and Satan, who wish to influence the lives of Adam and Eve. This emulates the subordinate position Eve holds in relation to Adam. She was created as an inferior being, who by nature is less intelligent and able-bodied than man.

Eve’s beauty is the only hold she has on Adam, who blames her appearance for hiding her cunning, immoral nature. Women and nature essentially cause man’s downfall from paradise, absolving man from blame and allowing his domination to persist throughout time.