ver, Adam points out that God wants them together because it is dangerous to work apart. He says they would be more likely to be ensnared by the serpent, the "malicious foe" (253), if they were separated. He goes on to suggest that the woman, the wife, would be especially vulnerable to the wiles of the serpent and his temptations.
As might have been predicted, all Eve hears from Adam's long speech is what she interprets as an insult to her womanhood. She agrees there is a tempter waiting, "but that thou shouldst my firmness therefore doubt/ To God or thee, because we have a foe/ May tempt it, I expected not to hear" (279-281). Adam backs off a little from his charge, but generally maintains the same argument. Eve changes her motive at that point, arguing not about work but about freedom. She says they can hardly be in a state of freedom if they are penned up out of fear of the serpent. She even argues that only by separating can they pr
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