It is interesting to see the difference on the way Milton writes how/why Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit. The way I read it seems that Eve was tricked by Satan into eating the fruit and she was clearly at fault for disobeying God. Adam on the other hand ate the fruit as a selfless act because he loved Eve so much and couldn’t be without her. They both ate the forbidden fruit, thus they are both at fault, but Milton writes it as if Adam’s reasoning for eating the apple was much more noble and justified then Eve’s reason. I think Adam was more in the wrong because he knew how bad it was to eat the fruit and he still did anyway. Look at how horrified he was:
“On th’ other side, Adam, soon as he heard/ The fatal Trespass don by Eve, amaz’d,/ Astonied stood and Blank, while horror chill/ Ran through his veins, and all his joynts relax’d;/ From his slack hand the Garland wreath’d for Eve/ Down drop’d, and all the faded Roses shed:/ Speechless he stood and pale, till thus at length/ First to himself he inward silence broke.”
(Lines 888-895)
At least Eve had to have SATAN to convince her to eat the fruit. My question for the class is does the gender of Adam and Eve play a role in how Milton wrote this book, or was it just happenstance?
