Friday, September 9, 2011
Imperial Adam
In Imperial Adam, A.D. Hope portrays a woman as a seductive creature when he writes, “She promised the turf of Paradise/ Delicious pulp of the forbidden fruit; / Sly as the snake she loosed her sinuous thighs (L22-23).” By this description, Hope seems to be saying that the woman has been placed upon the Earth by God to seduce the man; she is his temptress. In this case, the man exists to be tempted into committing what seems to be a sin, but is actually surrendering himself to an act that serves as the window to procreation. This can also be seen as the woman being portrayed as an evil being, similarly to the devil. The devil, in both the Bible and modern literature, is known to tempt his subjects into selling their souls to him. Similarly, in this passage, the woman is trying to seduce Adam, causing him to long for the “delicious pulp of the forbidden fruit” that is her body. Like the devil, the woman is sly and knows the object of her game of arousing the man. She is aware that he yearns for the lusciousness of her body and encourages him to fulfill his desires by the relentlessness of her seduction.
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Steph - I would like to state that I agree that Hope portrays women as evil and seductive, given that she gave birth to the first murder and tempted Adam. However I do not agree with your statement that the woman has been placed upon the Earth by God to seduce the man. I interpret it as the woman's way of controlling man. As seen in the poem, God creates woman out of man's rib because "it is not good for him to live alone." This states that women are made for men, or, taking it ever farther, women are made to be the possession of men. So being made subordinate to man, woman tries to control man in anyway possible, mainly through sex and seduction.
ReplyDeleteSteph - I think your take on the poem is actually very interesting. You are right in saying that Eve tries to seduce Adam in this poem, which she obviously succeeds in doing. However, I disagree that her creation was for the sole purpose of arousing Adam and having him impregnate her. Earlier in the poem, (what is assumed to be) God's voice says that "it is not good for [Adam] to live alone." This line, to me, indicates that God wanted Adam to have more than just someone to seduce him; he wanted him to have a companion for something deeper than simply procreation.
ReplyDeleteI agree that A.D. Hope is trying to relate and compare Evil with women. In this case, it is Eve's fault that Adam is now in fear. But, Eve is actually the victim. She is being used as an object rather than a lover. They quickly presume to seduce each other. It wasn't only Eve that seduced Adam, Adam could have resisted, but chose not to. They are both at fault for creating a murder.
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