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Taj Taher
Graf
ENGL 297
24 February 2014
Eve Did It
This mischief that had not then befallen, / And more that shall befall, innumerable /
Disturbances on earth through female snares. This excerpt from John Miltons epic, Paradise
Lost, firmly asserts that since the dawn of mankind, women have been the root of mans
miseries. It is a notion that has been repeated by literary critic Stanley Fish who, in Not so much
a Teaching as an Intangling, claims that the fall of mankind is in fact all of Eves fault, who
surrenders her mind to Satan. While Eves guilt is not in question, by saying surrender Fish
implies that Eve succumbs to base desire when she is persuaded to sin. On the contrary, Milton
draws parallels between Satan and Eve throughout the poem in order to illustrate that her
decision to eat the forbidden fruit is not fueled by whim, but by a conscious and rationally
thought out choice akin to Satans to rebel against God.
Milton establishes this connection between Satan and Eve early on in the poem by
detailing their respective submission to a greater being. The reverence Eve showers upon
Adam is precisely what Satan despises about submitting to God, and Milton juxtaposes these
couples to suggest that Eve is a Satan in the making. Milton describes this in Book IV, writing
Sheher unadorned golden tresses woreAs the vine curls her tendrilsrequird with gentle
swayby him best receivd, / Yielded with coy submission, modest pride, / And sweet reluctant
amorous delay, (Milton, IV: 305-310). Milton creates an image with this description of an Eve
that is pure, precious, and very flat and boring. That her golden tresses are her defining
characteristic makes it seem as if Eve has little personality, let alone free will. Her behavior
detailed with diction like coy, modest, sweet, gentle and amorous depicts Eve as the

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perfect wife wholly in Adams control, and the imagery of sway makes it seem like she is
brainwashed into happy but ignorant subjection.
This dynamic between Eve and Adam may appear familiar to the reader, for it is the
source of contempt in Mammons speech in Book II when he says with what eyes could we /
Stand in his presence humble, and receive / Strict laws imposed to celebrate his throne, (Milton,
II: 239-241). Shaped by Satans ideology, Mammon describes a situation that is more or less
what is seen between Adam and Eve. Humble aptly describes Eves servile disposition, but
when Milton uses strict in this passage and vine in the previous, it vindicates Satans
opinions on subjugation and foreshadows Eves fate. Milton makes a point of depicting Eve in
the same position to Adam as Satans was to God in order to introduce the parallel between them.
As a result, it is unsurprising when Eves personality changes to reflect Satans rebelliousness in
later Books of Paradise Lost.
This shift in personality becomes apparent through Eves tone; while it is light, frilly, and
subservient when Milton first introduces her, in Book IX she captures some of Satans sentiments
and tone instead. Satan makes his position known in Book I when he says, Better to reign in
hell, than serve in heaven, (Milton, I: 262), which is expected of the contemptuous character
that he is. It is alarming then in Book IX when, after committing sin, Eve asks, Was I to have
never parted from thy side? As good have grown there a lifeless rib, (Milton, IX: 1153-1154).
Besides the fact that both Eve and Satan express the same contempt for a lack of free will
strengthened by the word lifeless it is the biting and harsh way they proclaim these feelings
that connect and condemn them; the contempt apparent in their speeches highlights an alarming
lack of regret. Satans guilt is a known fact, but to hear Eve express such sentiments like him
shows that her decision to sin was not a surrender, and that her guilt in the fall is on par with
Satans guilt in his rebellion. Her defensive and somewhat hostile attitude implies that she cares

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more about her liberty than her abstinence from sin. Eves response here comes about because
Adam believes her decision to leave his side was the reason she committed sin; rather than
apologizing however, Eves tone suggests that she is glad to have sinned if it meant freedom
from Adam a direct echo of Satans sentiments mentioned before. That both of their tones show
they are willing to attain freedom even at the price of sin strengthens Miltons connection
between them, hinting that since Eve is Satan-like, she should be blamed entirely for the fall.
But the lack of remorse that both Eve and Satan possess is not enough to condemn her as
solely responsible; the fact that she consciously chooses to sin like Satan does. This is the
main issue with Fishs argument: he ignores the distinction between the way Adam and Eve
succumb to temptation. Fish makes it seem like Satan has Eve under some kind of spell, that his
words somehow magically compel her to sin, but on the contrary, Satan merely takes Eve to the
fruit and employs persuasion; he does not stuff the fruit down her throat. When it comes down to
it, she is the one who reasons, Fair to the eye, inviting to the taste, / Of virtue to make wise:
what hinders then, / To reach, and feed at once both body and mind? (Milton, IX: 777-779). Yes,
Eve is being nave as she chooses to eat the fruit. Fair, inviting, and virtue are meant to
mock Eve, for they symbolize the act put on by the serpent to lure her. But this information is
known only to the audience through dramatic irony, and so it is easy as a reader to say that Eve
surrenders. Nave though her decision may be, it is still a decision, and an active one at that.
There is logic behind it, and while some may say it is misguided logic, it is no more misguided
than Satans when he proclaims the tyranny of heaven unjust and aims to rebel against it. Eves
decision is made with the knowledge of questioning and challenging God, the same sort of logic
that led Satan to rebellion, and Milton foils Eve and Satans actions to demonstrate that just as
Satan is fully to blame for the rebellion, Eve is fully to blame for the fall. But Fish fails to see

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this connection Milton draws between the two characters, and as such his incorrect label of
surrender does not aptly condemn Eve.
By saying Eve surrenders, Fish oversimplifies the matter, and his claim that Eve is
solely responsible for the fall becomes unsupportable. If anything, by Fishs own logic, Adam is
more responsible for the fall because he is the one who truly surrenders. In Book IX, when Eve
presents herself to him having sinned, Adam recognizes that it was wrong, but when it comes
time to his own decision, he does not even contemplate why or why not he should consume it.
Instead, he scrupled not to eat / Against his better knowledge, not deceivd / But fondly
overcome with female charm, (Milton, IX: 997-999). This falls in line with Fishs argument of a
surrender through the overpowering and irresistible sense given from the connotation of
fondly overcome, and so it would appear that Fish is incorrect in blaming just Eve for the fall
when Adam too surrenders (albeit to desire). But Eve is solely to blame for the fall, because
what Fish fails to see is that while surrender is a sign of weakness, it is also a sign of the strength
possessed by whoever forces the surrender. For Adam surrenders not to Satan (or to a desire to
rebel against God and acquire knowledge from the fruit), but to Eve.
And it is in this surrender to Eve that we see her as the true manipulator, the true architect
of the fall, for she manipulates Adams lust to force him to sin. Eve assumes Satans role as the
seducer, and here Milton draws the parallel between them in the boldest of lines, in which Eves
behavior mirrors Satan to the point where even her speech resembles his. When attempting to
have him taste the fruit, she says, Illustrious evidence, example high! / Engaging me to emulate,
but short / Of thy perfection, how shall I attain, / Adam? (Milton, IX: 961-965). Eve appeals to
Adams sense of superiority by humbling herself before him with ornate words like illustrious
and perfection. The words themselves are soft sounding, eliciting a sense of gentleness and
trust. It is not difficult to see why Adam would commit sin after presented with such alluring

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rhetoric, and it follows a separate argument of Fishs that mankind is weak in the face of
eloquence. However, to see Eve embracing Satans methodology of eloquence belays the notion
that while Adam bears some fault in falling for it, the greater blame should lie with her for
manipulating him in the first place. Flattery is the potent poison which compels Adam to sin, a
testament to Eves Satan-like eloquence.
The poison of flattery is all too familiar, for it is the very one Satan uses against Eve
when he seduces her. Satan says I of brute human, ye of human gods (Milton IX: 712), and
builds upon that when he calls Eve, Goddess humane (Milton IX: 732). Eve clearly learned
from the best, for the same humility which she displays to Adam is the kind she receives from
Satan. Satan calls himself brute, and then illustrates Eves superiority by calling her a god. It
becomes all too clear then that Eves feigned humility is a copy of Satans, and it solidifies her
guilt. Eloquence, feigned humility, these all require rational foresight. Eve and Satan do not
stumble into their sins: they dive in. The Fallen Angels are guilty of treason, but the sole blame is
assigned to Satan for manipulating them. In the same sense, Adam does commit sin, but as the
one who orchestrated his sin, the entirety of the blame for the fall rests in Eves hands.
In fact, Adam himself blames Eve completely for the fall, and it is here that Milton brings
the parallel between Satan and Eve to a head. Adam cries, Out of my sight, thou serpentfor
thee / I had persisted happy, had not thy pride / And wandring vanityRejected my
forewarning, (Milton, X: 867-877). The outright parallel between Eve and Satan through
serpent is powerful and straightforward enough, but as Adam labels Eves personality with
pride and vanity characteristics Satan possesses which lead him to believe he is better than
God it becomes clear that Eve has reached Satans level. Rejected in particular implies that
she possesses the free will to transgress just as Satan did when he first rebelled against God. This
further distinguishes the nature of their respective sins, as Eve sinned with the full understanding

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of going against God while Adam was directed by his desire for Eve. Eve addresses this herself
when she says, On me exercise not / Thy hatred for this misery befallen, / On me already lost,
me than thyself / More miserable, (Milton, X: 927-930). The passive befallen connotes that
Adam is a victim of Original Sin, not the instigator of it. That pleasure belongs to Eve, who by
describing herself as lost and miserable brings to mind the wallowing despair that Satan
suffers from in Book I. While the Fallen Angels are punishes for their transgression, Satan
suffers the most because he pulled the strings and led the charge. In a similar sense, Milton
shows Eve to suffer more than Adam because she sins despite her knowledge of transgression,
unlike Adam who sins directly because of Eve.
As such, Eve alone is responsible for the fall of mankind. This is not, as Fish says,
because she surrenders herself to sin, but because she makes a rational decision to sin. This
becomes evident in the way Milton parallels Eve to Satan in actions, rhetoric, or tone to
illustrate that their choices are made with a knowledge of what they are doing. This may seem
incredibly sexist upon first glance, but Milton may actually be rooting for women. For Adam
commits sin due to lust less pure than Eve who pursued knowledge and then in his shame he
has the audacity to push all the blame on Eve. But Eve never denies it. She accepts her guilt, and
in this way, she and Satan become the most admirable characters in the poem, for they do not
allow themselves to be blindly herded like sheep. They do not accept the way things are without
asking why. They do not leave Eden without becoming free.