In Book XI, when Michael informs Adam that he and Eve must leave the Garden of Eden, one of Eve\u2019s first concerns is the loss of her precious flowers. The language of this lament recalls the earlier description of Eve and her flowers in Book VIII, and I would like to explore these similarities and some possible reasons behind them.<\/p>\n
Most obviously, both passages demonstrate the significance which Eve\u2019s flowers hold for her. We learn in Book VIII that Eve\u2019s relationship with these plants is a mutual camaraderie\u2014when she \u201cvisit[s]\u201d them, they \u201cspr[i]ng\u201d at her coming (VIII.45-46)\u2014and her reaction to her exile from Paradise in Book XI reaffirms this importance. After hearing Michael\u2019s words, her mind almost immediately turns to the fate of these flowers: \u201cO flow\u2019rs…which I bred up with tender hand\/ From the first op\u2019ning bud, and gave ye Names,\/ Who now shall rear ye to the Sun, or rank\/ Your Tribes…?\u201d (XI.273-279). Eve\u2019s relationship with her flowers resembles that of a parent and child, and she views them as perceptive of and responsive to her care.<\/p>\n
Also significant is the concept of Eve as a \u201cGoddess\u201d or \u201cGod\u201d which features prominently in both passages. Leaving Adam and Raphael\u2019s conversation to turn her attention to these plants, Eve is described as going forth \u201cWith Goddess-like demeanor\u201d (VIII.59). And in her lament in Book XI, just before addressing the plants, she refers to the Garden as the \u201cFit haunt of Gods\u201d (XI.271). This phrasing seems especially notable. The garden has been her<\/em> haunt\u2014does she view herself as (or like) a God?<\/p>\n Perhaps also importantly, both passages find Eve occupying an uneasy position in the company of the epic\u2019s other characters. Her choice to depart Adam and Raphael\u2019s conversation in Book VIII follows two books\u2019 worth of conversation between the two men, during which she has been either ignored completely or demeaned to her face (as when Raphael, rather than offering advice to her directly, instead merely tells Adam to \u201cwarn\/ Thy weaker [VI.908-909]). Similarly, in Book XI, she delivers her lament from an “unseen” hiding place (XI.265) where she has concealed herself upon Adam\u2019s command that, to avoid \u201coffend[ing]\u201d the recently-arrived Michael, she must \u201cretire\u201d (XI.236-237). In both cases, finding herself disregarded and subordinated by other characters, one of the first places to which she turns her attention is her flowers, and, in both cases, a suggestion of God-like status accompanies this action.<\/p>\n Eve clearly finds companionship with her flowers, but does she perhaps find something else as well? Their reliance on and responsiveness to her direction, as she \u201crear[s] [them] to the Sun\u201d and \u201crank[s]\/ [Their] Tribes\u201d (XI.278-279), suggests that, with these flowers, Eve occupies a role not just of friendship, but, moreover, of creation and power. Considered alongside the subordination she experiences at the hands of Adam and the angels, do these flowers, which rely on her for their growth and organization, offer Eve a sense of control, a chance to be \u201cGoddess-like\u201d? And if so, what effect does Michael\u2019s response to her lament\u2014an admonition to not \u201cset thy heart,\/ Thus over-fond, on that which is not thine\u201d and a command that \u201c[Adam] to follow thou art bound” (XI.288-291)\u2014have on Eve\u2019s already tenuous sense of independence and agency?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Annemarie Lisko<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In Book XI, when Michael informs Adam that he and Eve must leave the Garden of Eden, one of Eve\u2019s first concerns is the loss of her precious flowers. The language of this lament recalls the earlier description of Eve and her flowers in Book VIII, and I would like to explore these similarities and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[12,6],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/edificeproject.ua.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/edificeproject.ua.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/edificeproject.ua.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edificeproject.ua.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edificeproject.ua.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=359"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/edificeproject.ua.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":361,"href":"https:\/\/edificeproject.ua.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359\/revisions\/361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/edificeproject.ua.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edificeproject.ua.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edificeproject.ua.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}