Sample Close Reading PL IX 816-825

After eating the apple Eve becomes like Satan in her inability to see things as they really are in God's ultimate reality. This affects her view of her relationship with Adam. She asks herself, "But to Adam in what sort/Shall I appear/" (816-7). Appearance, and the possibility of changing it, occur only after a separation from reality. This opens the door for deception. At the same time, Eve's logic deteriorates. She thinks to become "more equal" (823) to Adam, but this is literally impossible, an echo of Satan's habit of seeing unity doubled or halved, but not itself.