Since Adam and Eve choose to separate, their fall is not only from eating the fruit but also from their emotional separation.Įating the apple violates the greatest commandment.

Therefore Eve’s wish to separate herself from Adam is against her reason and breaks the command given by God. If they are separate, they can not share these smiles and lose the emotional bond which they share. The smiles which Adam and Eve share are derived from this reason. God first commands them to never eat of the tree of knowledge and second says that “… reason is law” (PL 9.654). This is just the beginning of Eve’s narcissistic attitude which eventually leads to her separation from Adam.Įve’s desire to separate from Adam is against what God commands them. Eve describes this experience as “vain desire” for her self. She seems to play lovingly with her reflection. The language used by Eve as she communicates this event to Adam resembles that of one who is in love with themselves. When Eve gazes at her own reflection it is a reminder of the story of Narcissus who falls in love with his reflection. Mine eyes till now, and pined with vain desire… (PL 460-466) Pleased it returned as soon with answering looks It started back, but pleased I soon returned, This is the first instance in which Eve’s self absorption is visible As Eve wakes after being created by God from the rib of Adam she went to look at her reflection in a lake. God created her as one who looks inwardly. When she asks that they work apart, Eve is seeking an emotional separation from Adam.Įve’s inclination to separate from Adam comes from her selfish nature. This emotion separation can be equated to a divorce because Adam and Eve are no longer acting as “one flesh.” Their emotions are separated. She wants to take a break from the bonding.

Therefore Eve’s request is not simply to be alone in the garden but to break this emotional bond with Adam. God made them to love and delight in one another. They are able to enkindle the love between them through emotional bonding by looking and smiling. They have the freedom to relax and enjoy one another’s presence. The work given to Adam and Eve by God is not strict. He made us, and delight to reason joined. To brute denied, and are of love the food, Of looks and smiles, for smiles from reason flow, Refreshment, whether food, or talk between,įood of the mind, or this sweet intercourse Yet not so strictly hath our Lord imposed She desires instead a longer emotional separation.

Eve is not seeking this short physical separation that Adam is talking about. Adam makes it clear that a short time apart can even be good. Adam even says “For solitude sometimes is best society / And short retirement urges sweet return” (Paradise Lost 9.249-250). The problem is not that Adam and Eve can never be physically separated from each other. Eve desires to split up their work for the day rather than work together, she wants to work alone. The separation scene begins with a discussion between Eve and Adam. The cause for the separation is undeniably Eve’s selfishness. The separation scene is the catalyst for the fall of humanity. This act is against the command given to them by God. Satan takes this chance to bring Eve to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They are emotionally separated and commit sin against each other. Their separation is not limited to the physical. When they choose to separate, Adam and Eve become more vulnerable to temptation. The fall is preceded by the separation scene in which Adam and Eve chose to work alone in the garden. The fall of Adam and Eve is the climax of Paradise Lost taking place in Book 9.

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