Lilith as an archetype
Lilith is technically archetypal, for many reasons. She is to Eve what Lucifer is to Adam. In other important retellings of this ancient religious folklore, like Paradise Lost, comparisons are made between Adam and Lucifer because both are guilty by design; their own nature makes them behave in a contrary way to Yahweh's instruction, as if they were fated to fail. Lilith is that but for Eve. Yahweh says, "Serve your husband. What's wrong? Do what you're told." But ironically, this brings the archetype to life. She says, "No," and leaves, and the divine battle of male and female is set into motion.
The archetypal divorce
To say that the entire premise of human life is symbolized in the troubled marriage of Adam and Eve is classical theology. Plaskow argues through narrative that in fact, the correct archetypal origin for human experience is divorce. Adam and Eve might be happy for a while, and they stay together in the aftermath of the fall, but what about Adam's first wife? Lilith's divorce of Adam is a way of symbolizing the natural rift between morality and misogyny, just like Zeus and Hera.
The wall
The story of male and female out of sync suggests a kind of harmony somewhere, but Plaskow does not resolve the rift between Adam and Lilith, she restores the harmony of Lilith and Eve. In other words, the moral reading of the story is that Eve discovers her own divine nature by befriended her husband's ex-wife who is not nearly as enamored and impressed by him as Eve is. This stage of growth is incited by a symbolic crossing of the threshold; Eve literally climbs a wall into a forbidden area.
The demon counter-narrative
Lilith is sometimes called a demon, as if Adam's sonship of Godhood led him to be divinized in the afterlife (that is a common interpretation of the folklore), and as if Lilith is condemned to hell as an arrogant failure. Eve is suspiciously influenced by Lilith's point of view, but the same thematic confusion exists in this retelling as in the original scriptures. Why in the world would God make this world like this? Lilith is not evil, says Plaskow; that is just the narrative preserved by patriarchy because Adam thinks of her as a bitter ex-wife and traitor. One could say this is a counter-narrative to the truth that it was he who betrayed her, not the other way around.
Lonely Adam
In this retelling, Adam ends up alone with God. God plays his part as far as his character nature is concerned; he sits down with Adam and chats with him, listening to his complaints and conversing with him. The symbolism is similar to other archetypal stories from the scriptures. These are other people whose brokenness left them alone with God: Jonah, Elijah, Noah's family (in the ark), Moses (on the mountain), Abraham (on multiple occasions), etc. For Adam to be left alone with God is a symbol for contemplation and growth. He now has an opportunity to repent—to change his mind—of his misogyny.
