Female Characters in John Steinbeck´s East of Eden

When thinking about the gift offering in the biblical story of Cain and Abel and its impact, one can see many similarities in East of Eden. Cain brought to God “the fruit of the ground” and Abel offered God “the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof” (Gen 4 KJV). God preferred the gift of Abel to the gift of Cain.

Throughout the novel East of Eden, Steinbeck uses many biblical references to illustrate clearly the conflict between the opposing forces of good and evil. Much of the plot of East of Eden is centered upon the two sets of brothers representing Cain and Abel.  Both pairs are similar to Cain and Abel in the way they go about winning their fathers’ favors.  All four give gifts to their fathers, and the fathers dismiss the gifts of Charles and Caleb, the Cain representations (Marks, Jay Lester. p.121).  Caleb and Charles Trask are obviously the more malignant brothers.  They are also the more loving towards their father.  Steinbeck’s purpose in this is to illustrate the need of the Cain character in

In John Steinbeck’s East of Eden, the characters of Charles and Cal act as parallels when taking into account the Genesis story of Cain & Abel. The Genesis story of Cain & Abel tells the story of Adam & Eve’s twin sons. Cain, tiller of the ground, was characterized as the ‘evil’ brother, with unsound thoughts and tendencies. While Abel, keeper of the sheep, was characterized as the ‘good’ brother embodying a light pureness and divinity, making him the complete opposite of his brother Cain. Each brother brought offerings to God, and while Abel’s offering of the firstlings of his flock was respected by God, Cain’s offering of the fruit from the ground was not respected. From the rejection God gave Cain, Cain soon grew jealous of his brother Abel,

In the book East of Eden by John Steinbeck, Caleb and Aron are the twin sons of Adam and Cathy Trask. Adam’s relationship with Cal and Aron closely resembles that of the biblical Cain and Abel parable. Adam, undoubtedly loving Aron more than Cal, is metaphorically shoving Cal into a corner by rejecting so many of his gifts and actions as a son. The relationship between Cal and Adam is a distant one from the beginning, neither making an effort to fully understand the other since Aron is so obviously the perfect child. Cal, jealous of Aron constantly holding his father’s attention, goes through many dilemmas on the journey to gain his father’s acceptance. In striving to ultimately gain his father’s blessing and acceptance, Cal demonstrates

In the novel, East of Eden by John Steinbeck, biblical allusion is a literary device that references characteristics of judeo christian doctrine. Steinbeck alludes to the bible with his characters and setting in East of Eden. Salinas Valley and Adam Trask’s garden allude to the Garden of Eden. Steinbeck portrays the biblical allusion of the chapter Genesis from the bible throughout the book. The characters in the novel are allude to those in the book of Genesis. Steinbeck’s characters alluded to Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel, and Seth. All the conflicts in the book of Genesis, parallel the conflicts in the novel. The conflicts of represent the same fundamental theme of the choice between good and evil. Which is how the research question, To what extent does biblical allusion impact the structure and theme in John Steinbeck, East of Eden, shows its significance. To answer the research question, the investigation will look at the biblical allusion to the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, and Lilith. The investigation will further seek to explain how each biblical allusion impacts the structure and theme of the novel.

The novel, East of Eden, by John Steinbeck references to the bible quite a bit when describing some of the characters. Steinbeck refers to the story of Cain and Abel, two brothers who lived in peace until Cain slaughtered Abel. One day the two boys were to offer sacrifices to god; Abel offers his best lamb and Cain offers grain to god. God prefers Abel’s gift over Cain’s and in a jealous fit of anger Cain murders Abel. After this God comes to talk to Cain about what he had just done and in doing so he banishes Cain to “the land of Nod, east of Eden”(Genesis 4:16). Steinbeck uses a few Cain like characters throughout the novel to illustrate the reality of humanity; jealousy and favorability shapes our society and the way people act. There is no place to escape one's baser nature besides death’s home; steinbeck shows this through Cal Trask, Charles Trask, and Tom Hamilton.

The personalities of the two most influential women in John Steinbeck’s novel East of Eden, Cathy and Abra, are complex. One is evil, and the other is good. Despite their different personalities, they are surprisingly similar. Moreover, the women’s involvement in the story portrays the cycle of good conquering evil. Steinbeck describes Cathy as the “Eve” of the Trask family and depicts her as serpentlike and catlike.

Steinbeck uses this passage to introduce the character of Cathy Ames, a manipulative and evil woman of East of Eden. As Steinbeck described, Cathy was a monster not solely because of her evil actions nor her manipulative nature, but from her lack of reasons for her wrongdoings. From a young age, Cathy started her evil actions. However, she was very clever in perpetrating them, never receiving any blame or punishment for them. One instance was when she arouses two boys from the neighborhood and makes them look as if they raped him.

Cathy’s Gender during this time was more of a struggle in her becoming a successful ager since in the time of her childhood and young adulthood the roles in which people saw woman in were changing rapidly. This made it harder for Cathy to detriment for herself the way she saw herself as a person.

In John Steinbeck’s East of Eden, Abra Bacon portrays a young, modern woman in postwar America who proves to the readers that people have a choice in who they become. Abra embodies the important term of timshel in this novel, as she folds away from people’s expectancies of her, and creates her own life to live how she wants. While she proves this, she also shows that femininity is not the only part of a woman’s personality that matters, and that women can be different than the things other people idolize them to be. Aron, Abra’s conquestor, insists that she be a model for femininity, purity, and innocence, like some kind of inviolate object unavailable for living a life of her own－ but that is not the route she wants to take, so she molds her own path with the resources she has.

Beautiful is perhaps not how one might describe the lives of the main female characters of Absalom, Absalom! The term tragically beautiful is perhaps a more accurate description of Rosa Coldfield, Ellen Coldfield Sutpen, and Judith Sutpen. Their beauty is in the context of their struggle to live, much less thrive, in such a male-dominated environment. The excommunication from all reality is a fascinating way of building a stage on which to work notions of gender. There is, therefore, a great dichotomy of gender that emerges from two different understandings of personal relation to the surrounding world. Faulkner’s treatment of the female characters brings forth moving images and incredible social commentary. A stinging general statement about women is made by Mr. Compson: “Years ago we in the South made our women into ladies. Then the War came and made the ladies into ghosts" (7). It is in this realm that the women can be understood.

In the 20th century, the average home life in rural Oklahoma was full of hard workers in the pursuit of the picture-perfect home surrounded by plentiful land. The sun rose over the land, signaling the commencement of the day ahead. The farmer had already been awake since before the sun broke the horizon, preparing his little equipment and his animals for his land’s work. The farmer’s wife was in the kitchen, cooking her husband a warm breakfast as a sign of her gratitude. Their children woke and soon were running into the kitchen, bellies growling. After gobbling up the breakfast, they ran outside to play and do chores of their own. The rest of the farmer’s wife’s day was spent cleaning, cooking, and looking after the kids until the sun went down and it was time for bed. Set in this time, The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck, holds contrasting female characters. Some characters show the defiance of the gender roles at the time, while others adhere to them. In some instances, a female character can surpass the expectations set upon her by the patriarchal society in which they live she lives, setting her free to use a voice she never was allowed.

The women we meet during the course of the story is the opposite of how she is presented in the exposition. Ellie Andrews, who at first seemed to be a loud, rebellious, strong, and independent woman, representing the concept of the “New Women”, has turned out be extremely dependent on male guidance and protection. She seems incapable of taking care of herself and therefore represents the failure of the New Woman. Therefore, Capra’s hidden indication of the failure of the New Women match the theory of feminist scholars working in the field of pop- and visual culture that productions reflect social ideologies and promote patriarchal systems. Capra’s failure of the New Women matches men historically demanding traditional gender roles during the worst of the Great

The novel demonstrates both popular and familiar gender roles in the 19th century. Catherine Earnshaw, breaks through the stereotypes, and has a mesh of both feminine and masculine qualities. In the Victorian Era, men are seemed as superior to women. Her gender roles are beyond the social norm, as well as her husband Edgar, who is portrayed as more feminine. Catherine holds many masculine qualities such as being adventurous, extroverted, and determined.

In East of Eden, John Steinbeck explores how the personality trait of purity affects an individual. He shows this through Aron’s resulting ignorance and pursuit of a delusional reality.