Garden imagery
Adam and Eve are the classical story of garden theology. Plaskow places this story in the archetypal garden. Plaskow frames Adam and Eve's story within the framework of a second marriage, not a first one. That explains why Lilith is treated like a demon throughout Jewish theology (Lilith has a lengthy history in Jewish mysticism); Adam just feels she is a demon because she is his ex-wife. The garden is unsettling because it signifies unity with God (they are indeed united with God!) but they are also embedded in deeply personal beefs with each other. This specific imagery-dynamic is famous because of the Fall of Man passage in Genesis 3.
Male and female
Male and female dominate the imagery of the book. In just those few Biblical words ("God made them; male and female he created them," from Genesis 3), Plaskow finds an entire play of drama and role reversal. Adam dominates his home, but that just makes his wives more powerful than he is because he is abdicating service and responsibility, which are ironically the very paths toward attaining power and self-sovereignty. Masculinity is about order and staked claims in Plaskow's treatment, and femininity is about correcting the pride and arrogance of those claims of power.
Existential divine imagery
The existential philosophy of this work finds its roots in contemplations on divinity. Adam and Lilith are both direct derivations of divine nature, except that God is harmonious, but the first derivation of God's essence manifests in a deeply intimate, painful narrative full of drama and betrayal. This imagery demands an existential interpretation, because Adam and Lilith are high archetypes for the masculinity and femininity found throughout nature. The wrong narrative of misogyny is shown as low-hanging fruit which is essentially wrong and evil.
Eve's becoming
Eve is the only dynamic character in the work. Her imagery is the imagery of growth and transformation. She remembers her own essence through her relationship with her best friend, and she transforms within her relationship to her husband. She becomes aware of her own autonomy and then begrudges the slavery that marriage implies. She plays the part, but eventually, her choice to break the archetypal rule—the forbidden fruit—shows that she is powerful over Adam.
