Satan and Eve the early years.

Before I can really understand the relationship between Satan and Eve who seem so opposite, I need to categorize them as individuals. In the begining of Milton's Paradise Loss it was apparent that Satan had some redeeming qualities. For instance, He made do with his new surroundings and re-established himself as someone with power; someone who is a force to be reckon with. These days most people find those some what admirable qualities. His only down fall is that he gets pretty damn angry and does some real shitty things to people, one of those people being Eve.
Eve on the other hand is this meek creature who is so naive to everything in life. it is like she has never had to think for herself in her whole life, because Adam has always been there to protect her. I however think that Eve is quite a bit more complex than what she appears. For instance in book nine when good old satan is tempting her to eat the fruit he. The first creepy thing about this whole scene is the fact that he knows her so well. I think this has alot to do with the idea that they are both abject characters in this novel, Satan because he is the enemy that has been rejected from God's heavenly grace and Eve, because she is a woman. This is most when satan is talking about how he changed afte eating the fruit from the tree: "I was at first as other beasts that graze the trodden herb; of abject thoughts and low, as was my food, nor aught but food discerned, or sex, and apprehended nothing high (212)." Lets be honest Eve is the lowest of this world besides satan who is just plain exhiled from it all together. She seems to understand her place, and with Satan being able to relate to her in this scene, we see that it bothers her. This is why she eats the damn fruit in the first place.
The other creepy thing about this scene is that when she eats the fruit, we kind of see Eve being human for the first time. it is like Satan and her are the same at this point because they decided to go against the norm. Unfortunately, unlike Satan, Eve becomes this pitiful wreck who whines and toils in regret. This is displayed in book eleven when Eve is called mother of all mankind and she responds: "Ill worthy, I, such title should belong To me transgressor who for thee ordained a help became thy snare. To me reproach rather belongs, distrust and all dispraise (265)." Satan on the other hand knows that once he sinned, he could not repent because he would not mean it. He knew himself too well, and he knew that he was not being treated fair, so he would rather be true to himself and stay abject. This is displayed in book four, when he talks about how he misses the awesome place he was before he fell from grace, but he would not repent to God because he would not mean it: "But say I could repent and could obtain by act of grrace my former state...For never can true reconcilement grow where wounds of deadly hate have pierced so deep which would beut lead me to a worse relapse and heavier fall (80)."
So we have a relationship that centers on two abject people, one who has the ability to stand up against everything and another who does not.

*This was an interesting read, but I really hate the way women are viewed and portrayed. I just needed to say that. I think you should read the works that evoke emotions inside you, whether bad or good, because it makes you hold strong to your own values.