Distance from God

I think that Satan and Eve have an unlikely kinship, if only for a moment, in Milton’s epic story. I think the most apparent parallel between the two characters is their distance from God as created by Milton.
Both Satan and Eve are creations of God, however both are distant from him in different ways. Satan rebelled against God and was thrown to Hell with his army of demons. Eve rebelled against God by eating from the Tree of Knowledge.
Her relationship with God is different from that of Satan and Adam. God created Adam for himself and mankind. Eve was created as a companion for Adam, in the image of God. Because she was made of Adam’s rib, she becomes more distanced from God than Adam or Satan, both direct creations. Unlike Adam, Eve is never spoken to about the wonders of the universe or the consequences of defying laws. Without a companion other than Adam and with no contact of other creatures, she is amazed at Satan’s ability to speak and his wealth of knowledge [Book 9 Line 553-554: “What man this mean? Language of Man pronounc’t By Tongue of Brute, and human sense exprest?].
Although Eve and Satan differ in their ways of distance, but both succumb to defiance. Satan, without influence or persuasion, rebelled against God on his own accord and caused his distance, even though at times he considered repentance Although he considered repentance more than once [Book 1, Line 94-96 and again in Book 4, Line 93-94: “But say I could repent and could obtain by Act of Grace my former state..”] He raged war against his creator and is now destined to an eternity in Hell.
Eve disobeyed God’s demand by eating from the Tree of Knowledge. Because she disobeyed her creator she has further distanced herself from God and also Adam. Where Satan and Eve differ is in the context of their disobedience. Satan deliberately rebelled where as Eve was tempted. She referred to the serpent as “friendly to man, far from deceit or guile” [Book 9, Line 772] and questioned whether or not to eat it. She considers why God would harm his own creation and convinces herself under false pretences that what she is doing is not all that wrong. [Book 9, Lines 720-735: “I question it, for this fair Earth I see…If all they all things, who enclos’d Knowledge of Good and Evil in this Tree, That who so eats thereof, forthwith attains Wisdom without their leave? And wherein lies Th’ offense, that Man should thus attain to know?”] Because Adam and Eve have free will, (whether they know it or not) Eve is blamed for her decision to eat the apple, and is also blamed for tempting Adam. Milton ultimately uses Eve to distance all characters from God and mark their fall from Paradise.