Symptoms of Narcissism in Eve Using Paradise Lost

Symptoms of Narcissism in Eve I. Introduction A. “The allusion to pagan fable that most haunts views of Milton's Eve is her Narcissus-like behavior when, fresh from her Creator's hand, she pauses at the verge of the mirror lake attracted by her own reflection and has to be called twice: first by God, who leads her to Adam, and then, as she starts back toward the softer beauty of the face in the lake, by Adam himself.” (McColley 63). B. Eve’s scene in which she observes herself at the pool can be seen as a biblical form of the myth of Narcissus. C. I will argue, first, that Eve’s scene alludes to Ovid's myth of Narcissus. Second I dispute interpretations that view Eve’s actions as a narcissistic impulse, instead maintaining that the scene asserts Eve’s free will. Lastly, I will mention how Eve losing herself to find herself is identical to what the reader goes through while reading Paradise Lost. Trans. ¶ II. Jonathan Collett A. “This situation by the pool echoes Ovid's tale of Narcissus and attributed to Eve a native vanity that issues in the Fall, sometimes finding additional sinister implications in periodic resemblances between the creation of Eve and the birth of Sin.” (Collett 88). B. Collett presents the idea that Eve’s scene at the pool was directly a biblical form of the myth of Narcissus. Trans. ¶

III. Diane McColley A. “Instead, she makes the choice on which all further choices depend: she returns to Adam in response to his own cry.” (McColley 65). B. McColley disputes interpretations that view Eve’s actions as a narcissistic impulse, instead maintaining that the scene asserts Eve’s free will. Trans. ¶ IV. Personal Contribution A. “Like all good adventures, Eve's narrow escape from narcissism is exigent and perilous.” (McColley 66). B. Eve’s temporary narcissism required her to lose herself in order to find herself

Cited: Collett, Jonathon. "Milton 's Use of Classical Mythology in "Paradise Lost". PMLA Vol. 85. No. 1. (1970): 88-96. McColley, Diane Kelsey. "Shapes of Things Divine: Eve, Myth, and Dream." In Milton 's Eve. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1983. Milton, John. Paradise Lost. New York: Barnes and Noble Classics, 2004. "Narcissism." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. 26 Feb. 2008. . Norford, Don Parry. “The Separation of the World Parents in Paradise Lost.” Milton Studies 12. (1978): 10, 14, 21.