Satan and Eve...

(Due to family emergency, I had to leave Normal in quite the rush Thursday Evening. I did not remember in time to grab the actual Milton's Text. I am doing the best I can from lines on-line and my head. I apologize)

Having read Milton's, Paradise Lost once before in my British Literature class, I had never realized the parellelism between the two characters within the story. I feel that this has a lot to do with Milton's view points on women. Because Eve is made to be so naive and so innocent, it takes a while, at least it did for me, to put Eve on the same level as Saten. It took me quite a while to realize that the idea of such a thing, would be nearly impossible. For it would be much simpler to put Satan, on Eve's level.

As an English major, I have to realize differences before I can realize similarities, so please bear with me. As we discussed in class, for a good part of the book Satan is seen as the underdog. He has seen as the fallen angel. As I read in posts below me, someone mentioned that he had a chance to repent but chose not to, due to his swollen pride. I agree. I feel that he had options Even did not, however. I do realize that if Adam and Eve are to live a life in Christ, they will repent and be let in at the gates of Heaven. Yet, Satan could have been forgiven right away, having to live no life in hell other than the time he had already spent. My question is, would there have been hell if Satan had repented? If not, what would God have done with the sinners, or would there have been any if Satan had not gotten the chance to seduce Eve?

A similarity I can recall spacfically is that of pride that Eve and Satan both share AFTER he seduces her into eating the forbidden fruit. After Eve bites into this apple, she is instantly filled with a feeling of intoxication as well as self praise. She compares herself to the fruit, agreeing with the compliments she received earlier. She should be shared, she should be seen. This, to me, runs parellel to the attitue Satan first had when landing in Hell. He offers himself up to come to Earth and ruin God's new creation, he refuses to be kept in Heaven when he can rise above his level there and be a leader in Hell. Yet both of them feel guilt eventually. Eve when she realizes she loves Adam and has to tell him the truth, and Satan when he lands upon the mountain and wishes he could be loved as much as this race.

I feel that both deal with rejection. Satan directly, and Eve through the underlying text. Satan is rejected by God, he is the fallen one. He has sinned. He refuses to repent and starts a war with God. Eve, being a woman, is already in a war that she is not aware of. A war between the readers idea of what a woman is, and the idea of what Milton believed a woman should be. She is put to sleep when important things are discussed, even her own actions, she is made to be this stupid, naive woman who doesn't understand, and is easily seduced. This makes the characters similar once again.