“If I were inclined to joke, I should say, How much this seems like Paradise!” he remarked whimsically, looking at her with an inclined head.“What do you say?” she weakly asked.“A jester might say this is just like Paradise. You are Eve, and I am the old Other One come to tempt you in the disguise of an inferior animal. I used to be quite up in that scene of Milton’s when I was theological. Some of it goes—‘Empress, the way is ready, and not long,Beyond a row of myrtles....... If thou acceptMy conduct, I can bring thee thither soon.’‘Lead then,’ said Eve.
Alec D'Urberville returns and Tess is surprised to see him again, given their past, his presence was not a warm one for Tess. Alec is the narrator of this part of the text as he is seen quoting the story of Adam and Eve from the Bible, still trying to assert dominance over Tess. This passage refers to the Genesis story of Adam and Eve in the Catholic Bible. It is ironic that Alec quotes himself to seem as Adam while Tess is Eve. The ironic part is seen, "A jester might say this is just like Paradise" (275). Seeing Alec actually made Tess feel "weakly" not happy or excited. He is trying to seduce Tess once again, but his idea of being the man for Tess is far fetched. He is not Adam, and she is not Eve, the irony he even thinks they are related shows how Alec really does not think he did anything wrong to Tess, if anything he showed her light or paradise, in his mind.