"Domestick Adam" versus "Adventrous Eve": arguments about gardening in Milton’s Eden

Rosamund Paice

doi:10.5325/miltonstudies.63.2.0265

"Domestick Adam" versus "Adventrous Eve": arguments about gardening in Milton’s Eden

Rosamund Paice

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

This essay emphasizes the importance Eden's qualities as garden space in accounting for the dispute between Adam and Eve on the morning of the Fall (Paradise Lost, Book 9). Reading Adam and Eve's conversation in the light of husbandry manuals and the companionship ideals embraced by Milton, it argues that both stray from their culturally and textually sanctioned roles. Eve uses the garden’s growth to justify separation from Adam, signaling a mental departure from her husband prior to her physical one. As this moves her away from female-aligned spaces and activities, so Adam's increasingly unproductive leisure renders him "domestick."

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	265–293
Number of pages	29
Journal	Milton Studies
Volume	63
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.5325/miltonstudies.63.2.0265
Publication status	Published - 1 Sept 2021

Keywords

Paradise Lost
gardens
environment
husbandry

Access to Document

10.5325/miltonstudies.63.2.0265

Arguments about Gardening - accepted version
Rosamund Paice; “Domestick Adam” versus “Adventrous Eve”: Arguments about Gardening in Milton's Eden. Milton Studies 1 September 2021; 63 (2): 265–293. doi: https://doi.org/10.5325/miltonstudies.63.2.0265.
Accepted author manuscript (Post-print), 343 KB

2 Citations
1 Article

Falling in love and language: earthly companionship and spiritual loss in Paradise Lost
Paice, R., 1 Jun 2014, In: Early Modern Literary Studies. 2014, Special Issue 22, p. 1-22 22 p., 0.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Open Access
File

3 Participation in conference
1 Oral presentation

British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies 49th annual conference
Rosamund Paice (Presented paper)
9 Jan 2020
Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in conference
Association for Literature and the Environment (UK & Ireland) annual conference
Rosamund Paice (Presented paper)
4 Sept 2019
Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in conference
British Milton Seminar
Rosamund Paice (Presented paper)
20 Oct 2018
Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in conference
What Lies in Milton’s Garden: Companionship and Retreat in Eden
Rosamund Paice (Speaker)
5 Jan 2018
Activity: Talk or presentation types › Oral presentation

Cite this

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"Domestick Adam" versus "Adventrous Eve": arguments about gardening in Milton’s Eden

Abstract

Keywords

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Falling in love and language: earthly companionship and spiritual loss in Paradise Lost

British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies 49th annual conference

Association for Literature and the Environment (UK & Ireland) annual conference

British Milton Seminar

What Lies in Milton’s Garden: Companionship and Retreat in Eden

Cite this

"Domestick Adam" versus "Adventrous Eve": arguments about gardening in Milton’s Eden

Abstract

Keywords

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Research output

Falling in love and language: earthly companionship and spiritual loss in Paradise Lost

Activities

British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies 49th annual conference

Association for Literature and the Environment (UK & Ireland) annual conference

British Milton Seminar

What Lies in Milton’s Garden: Companionship and Retreat in Eden

Cite this