Psyche, the bride of what she thinks is a nature-god initially accepts his goodness as a fact, until she is dissuaded. This is a metaphor for how life causes people to lose their first faith in God and mistrust their heart. Is Psyche's trust in her husband's command noble or foolish? She accuses her sister of being foolish. Is Psyche being childlike, or is her sister being deceitful when she urges Psyche to challenge her husband with a trick?

Thesis III

Now Psyche goes out in exile....

Now she must hunger and thirst and tread the hard roads" (173) in her quest for knowledge, Psyche, like Adam and Eve, is punished and she must go out into the world from the garden, she must live a hard life and fend for her own survival, and go in search of her beloved. She is no longer given whatever she needs. This is a metaphor for the search of the soul in a fallen world.
Will Psyche, if she eventually is reunited with her god-husband, be a better wife, or merely the same after their reunion?