“For contemplation he and valour formed,

For softness she and sweet attractive grace; He for God only, she for God in him.”

-Book IV, Paradise Lost

In Milton’s hierarchical universe, Eve is subservient to Adam. She is depicted as being formed merely for Adam’s companionship. Her action of persuading Adam to eat the apple is portrayed as the reason for fall of mankind. Formed out of Adam’s rib, she has no separate self and no independence of thought or action.

Eve’s act of resistance, wherein she rebels to work independently, results in her fall. This points towards the notion that a woman ought to follow her husband’s will. Any deviation from the unconditional submission would result in something as tragic as Eve’s fall. Milton’s misogyny is further evident in the lines:

“Thus it shall befall

Him who to worth in women overtrusting,

Lets her will rule; restraint she will not brook;

And left to herself, if evil thence ensue

She first his weak indulgence will accuse.”

-Book IX

Milton puts the onus of fall on Eve and by incorporating the term “women,” he criticises the entire sex. Thus Eve becomes an instrument for Milton to criticize the frailities in women.

Eve is presented as a frivolous and vain woman who submits to narcissism, which ultimately leads to the fall of man. Eve is equated to Narcissus when she looks at her beauty in water. The idea of Eve submitting to the serpent’s flattery and praise is a manifestation of patriarchy, wherein a woman is always associated with feminine vanity and narcissism. Milton’s indignation against womanhood is also expressed in Raphael’s warning that Eve is fair only on the outside and Adam should get her obedience. Milton’s description of Eve’s “coy submission” is in itself a reminder of the puritanical concept of the inferior status of women.

In conclusion, a feminist reading of Paradise Lost highlights the inherent patriarchal conventions normalised in the character of Eve. More than the cause of fall, Eve manifests the idea of woman being the second sex. Her quest for knowledge is suppressed by the idea of sin, which in itself is evidence of misogyny.