Questions for September 20 responses:

In five short essays of 150-200 words, respond to the following questions/ prompts:

(Note: I have provided seven questions; you only need to respond to five of them).

(1) Compare the description of the creation of Eve in Paradise Lost, Book IV, to the descriptions of her creation in Genesis. How does Milton's depiction of the relationship between Adam and Eve compare to the Biblical text?

(2) Summarize Elaine Pagels' account (in Adam, Eve and the Serpent) of the conflict between Pagan and Christian concepts of sexual morality at the time of Jesus and summarize her discussion of the economic and cultural functions of bigamy and divorce in the Jewish community.

(3) Summarize Elaine Pagels' account (in Adam, Eve and the Serpent) of Bishop Clement of Alexandria's arguments against St. Paul's injunctions for Christians to be celibate, and discuss Clement's historical influence.

(4) In a subsection of her essay "When Eve Reads Milton" entitled "The Invention of Adam and Eve" (pp. 148-161) Christine Froula analyzes the conversion of Adam and Eve from lines 300-500 of Paradise Lost Book IV. Summarize her analysis and describe her conclusion about how the pattern of Eve's awakening relates to the psychological effect of patriarchal authority on women in Western society. (See especially pp. 148-152).

(5) In the same subsection of her essay "When Eve Reads Milton" mentioned in question (4), Christine Froula describes what she sees as Adam's "sense of inadequacy in the face of what he sees as Eve's perfection." (See especially pp. 153-158). Summarize her analysis and describe her conclusion about how the construction of patriarchal authority based on illusion and "invisibility" are now being challenged by feminism.

(6) Compare the structural patterns of three scenes in which Eve hears male voices of authority--(1) the male voice that leads her away from the pool in Book IV, lines 408-492; (2) the voice of Satan in the body of a frog, whispering into Eve's ear as she sleeps (note that she experiences this as a bad dream) in Book V lines 26-156; and Satan tempting Eve to eat the forbidden fruit in Book VIII lines 532-690.

(7) Describe and discuss any questions you have in response to these readings that remain unanswered after you have read the texts.