Wilding, Michael. “Thir Sex Not Equal Seem’d: Equality in Paradise Lost.” Of Poetry & Politics: New Essays on Milton and His World. Ed. P.G. Stanwood. Tempe, AZ:  Medieval & Renaissance Texts and Studies, 1995. 171-86.

Summary: In "Thir Sex Not Equal Seem'd: Equality in Paradise Lost," Wilding asserts that the relationship between Adam and Eve in Milton's Paradise Lost is not an inegalitarian, hierarchical one in which Adam has more power than Eve. Wilding instead suggests that, while Milton does remain ambiguous in his descriptions towards Adam and Eve, social subordination was introduced by the Fall but was not present before it. The author insists that Milton was not aiming to write about gender equality but was writing about something much more revolutionary: human equality.

Evidence #1: The first description of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden is questionable because it is presented through the clouded eyes of Satan. Satan is the one who says in lines 295-96 of Book Four, "Though both / Not equal as their sex not equal seemed." Milton is not the one who says fervently that Adam and Eve are not equal but it is Satan who perceives them to have "seem'd" unequal in his distorted and prejudiced judgment. Satan views paradise threw the distorted filter of one who has fallen. Therefore in a true understanding of paradise must come from the oposite of Satan's vision, the negation of the negation. It is only after Eve has eaten the apple that she feels inferior for the first time, suggesting that inequality is part of the fallen world. It seems to only be fitting that Satan, a figure who has a preoccupation with authority, would point out this perception between Adam and Eve. Satan's thinking is that of an absolutist tyrant, so what he sees is not what is but rather what he believes it to be. Due to the fact that their description is presented through Satan's misconstrued perceptions, one cannot equate this to Milton's personal beliefs in regards to gender equality.

Evidence #2: It is not until Adam and Eve have eaten the apple and fallen that Eve perceives herself to be unequal. This suggests the idea that inequality is part of the fallen world. Eve only begins to feel inequality once she gains the knowledge from the apple (knowledge which at that point makes her superior to Adam) and she has to debate sharing this knowledge. Wilding points to the quote: “the more draw his Love, / And render me more equal, and perhaps, / A thing not undesirable, sometime / Superior: for inferior who is free?” (9.818-25). Because Eve begins to feel inferior after the fall, this suggests that the issue of equality was not present until after Eve had eaten the apple and set the fall into motion.  Eve's subordination to Adam is given as a punishment for the fall. When man was created they were given rule over fish fowl and beasts, man was not given rule over one an other. Every man in paradise was created as a perfect creature equal to every other man in paradise. Thus proving that before the fall man and woman lived in equality,

Opinion: I think that Wilding produces substantial evidence to support his claim that gender equality was not an issue prior to the fall. I found myself agreeing with the idea that one cannot simply suggest that Milton was sexist in his portrayal of Adam and Eve in Paradise Lost. Prior to reading this article, I read the scenes between the couple as Eve being inferior to Adam, and that Milton himself was trying to suggest what the proper roles for men and women should be. The fact that we see seeming inequality through the eyes of Satan, and that Eve does not feel inferior until after the fall, is vital evidence that suggests that Milton may not be a sexist writer.  But rather his readers look at his work as members of the fallen and therefore taint the pure image Milton was after with our impure bias and logic. One must consider the circumstances and surroundings regarding equality in Paradise Lost in order to gain a more complete outlook on the relationship between Adam and Eve.