Elie Wiesel's Eve: The Story Of Eve

Before exploring their restricted status, it is important to understand that most histories of women were written by men, and their conditions were elevated by misogynistic interpretations of certain contexts, especially the bible. Although certain authorities were challenged in this time period (including histories of women written by men), the word of the church continued to retain a strong voice. Much of the attitudes of male intellectuals during Early Modern Europe came from inherited traditions from Christianity. In the popular story of Adam and Eve, Eve is often thought to be created to “alleviate the loneliness” of Adam, and that she

“So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib, which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said, "This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." (Gen 2:22). The man distinguishes the woman not as his opponent, but as his companion, not as a threat because of her parity with himself, but as the only one proficient of satisfying his desire within. Even though throughout most of history, women have been observed negatively and not as equals. "Back in the ancient Greece times, women were not allowed to be educated and they were forced to be married at puberty to grown men. Women remained everlastingly the possessions of their fathers, until who they married another. They were to live in isolation and could not leave the house without a chaperone." (Arlene) Ursula Le Guin’s poem relates to women's journey throughout the world, how they have been mistreated and how women have been taking action to move forward. The Woman's actions of unnaming all living things are in direct rebelliousness to man’s authority. Man had named her “woman” because she was taken out of Man” (Gen 2:24) Man created language and that language created a hierarchy, a separation between humans and animals, animals and other animal.

In Paul Hége’s book, Women in the Bible, Qumran, and Early Rabbinic Literature: Their Status and Roles Scholarship writes about, “The status of women in Scripture and in Qumranic and rabbinic literatures has often been guided by biased preconceptions in both directions” (Héger page 5) meaning by male citizens and another scholars alike. One of the biggest argument from the Bible, was the creation woman. As stated by Heger, “The traditional commentators connect these midrashim to the preceding as other solutions to the apparent contradiction between humankind’s creation as androgynous, subsequently separated, and the biblical assertion that woman was created from man’s rib.” Referring that, women are leftover fragments from man. Heger stated this as wrong, and God had more meaning for women, such as being Adam’s helper, not slave. But others interpretations of the passages such as, “For Adam was formed first, then Eve” give women a lower ranking among her peers.

In Genesis 1-3, the reading states that God created Adam as the leader of creation and Eve to be his helper. Of course, many things changed when Eve ate from the forbidden fruit, leading Adam to fall as well. All the blame fell upon Eve, because of the choice she made and because she influenced Adam to eat the fruit as well. The bible never states that Adam and Eve are to be different or non equal, just that she would be his support. When Eve talks to the serpent, and fails, Adam could have been there listening to everything, and even though the Bible states that Eve led to Adam failing as well, all the blame is given to Eve. Why? According to the Bible, Adam was created to be the leader. Why did he not stop her or why didn’t the blame fall upon both of them equally. The punishments that women now have to bear is harsh; suffering from childbirth and men having dominance over woman. Women are often seen as weaker beings and quiet, but why did Jesus give such an important meaning to some women in his life. The first person to see Jesus after he rises, was a women. Mary of Bethany was also an important women in Jesus’s life, showing great faithfulness and respect. Esther is a great example in the Bible. Women should not be underestimated, for they often have greater knowledge then men. Esther was a great women, and used everything in her means to prepare herself to save her people from being killed.

The story of Lilith is one of empowerment that turns dark. Many People believe that Eve was the first woman, who was made from the rib of Adam. But many Hebrew text believe that when god created the Earth and Adam, he noticed that Adam was lonely. Noticing that Adam was lonely, God created from the earth a woman for Adam. The woman came to be known as Lilith (www.angelfire.com/journal/ofapoet/lilith.html).

Being the first to fall for the biggest sin and the sole representation of women, God’s Eve has been distinctively portrayed countless times. Both John Milton and Aemilia Lanyer convey two stimulating views of Eve. Milton in Paradise Lost captures Eve as a rebel who risks an entire mankind to evil, while Lanyer in Eve’s Apology in Defense of Women completely defends Eve’s innocence, insisting she is collateral damage out of Adam’s actions. They use Adam and Eve as symbols of their sex to shape women’s nature and role. Although the poets’ arguments are clearly different from each other, their perceptions of Eve as a woman are awfully similar. Compared to Milton’s, Lanyer’s poem falls flat as she seems to support his belief, which is that women are too weak and incapable. In her attempt to defend women, Lanyer misses the fact that she is not only attacking men but also women, only strengthening Milton’s argument.

Unlike many other ancient texts, women in the Bible have a very prominent and important role in deciding the future of their lineage and often, their nations. However, an initial reading of the Bible without historical context often leads the reader to the assumption that women often are a detriment; committing actions that appear deceitful or resulting in punishment. However, if we approach these stories with their historical context in mind, we see that initial impressions do not hold true. Women in the Bible work within the restrictions place upon them by their society to achieve their own goals as well as fulfilling the plan of God. Furthermore, they are instrumental in deciding who of their sons receives both the covenant and the birthright

In my book ‘Eve and Adam’ I really felt like the authors were trying to tell me that women can be strong and different. First of all, the main character Eve is a woman and she sort of has superpowers. She healed herself when she got in a car accident and messed up her leg really bad. Secondly, in the book everyone really respected her. The second main character Solo, really respected her decision not to send out all the info about her mom. Lastly, I loved how she was always so calm in tough situations. When she found out her mom gave her a genetically modified heart she was surprised but she handled herself well. To conclude I believe the author's purpose was that woman can be strong and different.

You panicked, paced, and procrastinated, all because you left your wallet sitting on a table, or dropped you money at the football game. Maybe even left your phone someplace and you don’t know where because your mom said she would take it while you roamed around. Eve knows what it feels like to lose something very valuable. The Yoder family went on vacation to Cedar Point, Ohio last summer. It was one of those days where the sun was beating down on your face and sweat was rolling down your back like you just took a shower. The Yoders wanted to cool down, but to be outside at the same time. So the idea of going to the water park sound extremely delightful to all of them, so off they went, straight towards the cool refreshing water.

The importance Milton attached to Eve’s role in Paradise Lost and in the Garden of Eden is now recognised and acknowledged. (Green, 1996) Milton’s treatment of Adam and Eve’s relationship is complex. Sometimes referring to them in ways that indicate equality, (ibid) sometimes stressing their separateness as individuals (ibid) and other times they are complementary halves of a whole. (ibid) Taking on the view that many support; that Milton intended Eve to seem completely inferior to Adam, we can examine Eves role in the fall.

The wife of Adam, Eve, was created by God as a companion to accompany him. They live in harmony and peace together amongst the Gardens of Eden. Their life takes place in the book of Genesis, part one of the Bible. Eve’s position in her life is to make sure Adam is never lonesome, and to serve as a soft, beautiful touch to the Garden of Eden. When a devilish snake coaxes her into eating the forbidden fruit, God’s fury plunges her and her husband into eternal punishment for their sins. Eve’s punishments in particular were very harsh for her wrongdoings—the burden of the first childbirth, and the order from God to serve Adam and have him be her master forever. This biblical figure’s trials were important to the plot of the bible and all that revolved around it afterwards, because her struggles are what impacted the rest of ecclesiastical history.

According to Christianity, woman was created second and it was her that brought up sin to man as she could not resist temptation. Such negative ideas can be found in stories such as ‘Adam and Eve and Pandora’ which has a woman as a perpetrator of sinfulness. However, one must not forget that these stories were written by man,

In Biblical imaginary, the image of woman often originated from the image of Eve. Eve was allured by the devil and impelled Adam to disobey God and eat the forbidden fruit, resulting in their exclusion from the paradise, mortality and hardship in their lives living on Earth. Since then, the female descendants of Eve were held responsible for this loss of paradise.

In “Eve’s Apology in Defense of Women,” an excerpt from Salve Deus Rex Juadeorum, Aemilia Lanyer uses biblical illusions such as the story of Eve eating the forbidden fruit, as well as satirical diction to convey a message of unjust attitudes toward the female gender. These attitudes express an imbalanced judgement of women in religious settings, a notion that would continue to be used not only when alluding to religion, but also in other everyday life events. Lanyer, however, uses this satirical language to argue that Eve is only to blame as much as the male characters in the story, Adam and Satan.

This essay explores the characterisation of Eve in Paradise Lost, taking also into consideration the main themes where the character features as a major actor, the setting of the poem and how it reflects the context of the time Milton wrote it.