Paradise Lost Essay Book 9

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Essay book 9 Paradise Lost Allyson Cortinas 2.11.14 7th In Paradise Lost, Eve expresses her selfishness with her motivation to gain power. She betrays God and misleads Adam in order to benefit herself. In Bierman’s analysis of Paradise Lost, about Eve’s actions specifically, he states that “She (Eve) does not want to be passive; She instead would like to be active by doing things for herself” (Bierman). This explains many of Eve’s actions by showing her need for independence. In Paradise Lost, Eve spends her time trying to be free of Adam and work alone even after his warnings of the dangers of Satan. Adam denies Eve her independence by telling Eve she needs his protection. Bierman says, “Eve was not priviledged with an opportunity for self-exploration or prompted to identify and express the spirit within her” (Bierman) and tries to defend Eve’s sins. “I agree that Eve was not given a time to get to know herself. She knew herself as Adam’s wife, a keeper of the Garden of Eden, and a follower of God. Both Adam and Eve had many questions, but only Eve explored them. I believe that Eve acted out of selfishness and only ate the fruit of the Forbidden Tree due to the want for power, wisdom, and knowledge. Adam, however, acted out of love and selflessness. He chose to eat of the tree only because he wanted to be with Eve, but in the process he betrayed God. In the excerpt, the blame seems to be placed on Adam instead of Eve. Bierman writes, “Both the ‘household good’ and the ‘good works’ to promote’ and the ‘se thou provoke him not stryfe’ make Eve into an introverted woman in her relationship with Adam,” which makes it seem as if Eve was pushed into the decisions she made due to her relationship with Adam. However, I do not believe that Adam should be at fault for her selfish acts. Although he did try to pressure her and persuade her, Adam was only trying to
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