EVE’s UnEVEn Relationship with Adam: Milton’s Paradise Lost in the Light of Politeness Theory

Kahmini, Mostafa Sadeghi; Ghasemi, Parvin

doi:10.18052/www.scipress.com/ILSHS.47.174

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EVE’s UnEVEn Relationship with Adam: Milton’s Paradise Lost in the Light of Politeness Theory

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Abstract:

Feminists, among others, have found Eve’s representation in Milton’s Paradise Lost problematic over the last centuries. Some of them consider Eve to be Adam’s inferior while others find traces of egalitarian relationship between them. This study uses Penelope Brown and Stephen C. Levinson’s Politeness Theory and applies it to the conversations between Adam and Eve prior to the Fall in order to address this issue. It is demonstrated in this article that, before the Fall, Eve always exercises less power than Adam except for a brief moment that she achieves equality.

Info:

Periodical:

International Letters of Social and Humanistic Sciences (Volume 47)

Pages:

174-183

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18052/www.scipress.com/ILSHS.47.174

Citation:

M. S. Kahmini and P. Ghasemi, "EVE’s UnEVEn Relationship with Adam: Milton’s Paradise Lost in the Light of Politeness Theory", International Letters of Social and Humanistic Sciences, Vol. 47, pp. 174-183, 2015

Online since:

February 2015

Authors:

Mostafa Sadeghi Kahmini, Parvin Ghasemi

Keywords:

Eve, Milton, Paradise Lost, Politeness Theory, Power

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Open Access

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

References:

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