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

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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 languageEnglish
JournalMilton Studies
Publication statusAccepted for publication - 11 Aug 2020

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  • Arguments about Gardening - accepted version

    Rights statement: The embargo end date of 2050 is a temporary measure until we know the publication date. Once we know the publication date the full text of this article will be able to view shortly afterwards.

    Accepted author manuscript (Post-print), 343 KB, PDF document

    Due to publisher’s copyright restrictions, this document is not freely available to download from this website until: 1/01/50

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ID: 20448321