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Madison Sullivan

Mr. Youngs

British Literature

24 January 2014

Eve’s Apology in Defense of WomenBy Amelia Lanyer

But surely Adam can not be excused, Her fault though great, yet he was most to blame; What Weakness offered, Strength might have refused, Being Lord of all, the greater was his shame:                 780 Although the Serpent's craft had her abused, God's holy word ought all his actions frame,     For he was Lord and King of all the earth,     Before poore Eve had either life or breath.  

Who being framed by God's eternal hand,                      785 The perfectest man that ever breathed on earth; And from God's mouth received that straight command, The breach whereof he knew was present death: Yea having power to rule both Sea and Land, Yet with one Apple won to loose that breath                   790     Which God had breathed in his beauteous face,     Bringing us all in danger and disgrace.  

And then to lay the fault on Patience' back, That we (poor women) must endure it all; We know right well he did discretion lack,                      795 Being not persuaded thereunto at all; If Eve did err, it was for knowledge' sake, The fruit being fair persuaded him to fall:     No subtle Serpent's falsehood did betray him,     If he would eat it, who had power to stay him?           800

Not Eve, whose fault was only too much love, Which made her give this present to her Dear, That what she tasted, he likewise might prove, Whereby his knowledge might become more clear; He never sought her weakeness to reprove,                   805

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With those sharp words, which he of God did hear:     Yet Men will boast of Knowledge, which he took     From Eve's fair hand, as from a learned Book.

Explication of Lanyer’s“Eve’s Apology in Defense of Women

Most people know the story in the Bible about how Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s

direct order and had to pay the price for disobeying him. Eden was a beautiful garden

with lots of fruits and vegetable for Adam and Eve to eat. There was one tree that God

told them to stay away from. They were forbidden to eat the fruit from the tree. We have

been brought up to think that Eve was the person who tempted Adam into eating the

forbidden fruit. Amelia Lanyer challenged us into thinking that maybe Eve was not

entirely to blame for the two of them being kicked out Eden. Amelia Lanyer lived in a

time when the world did not accept women writers. She wanted to write with a feminist

point of view which was not accepted in the Classical period. She set this poem about

religion because she felt she could get her point across because the Bible was considered

the key to life.

In the beginning, Amelia talks about how Eve was definitely at fault for eating the fruit

but Adam’s blame should be equal to hers or even more. Adam was created first and Eve

was made from him. God made him Lord of all who was strong and wise. He was

superior to everyone including Eve. Eve would have been expected to be tempted and

Adam should have known better. Although the Serpent’s power was able to coax Eve to

eat the fruit, Adam, the Lord and King, should have been the one to stop Eve and explain

to her the consequences of disobeying God. He knew exactly what would happen if they

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ate the fruit and should have protected Eve who was innocent and would not have known

the difference between good and evil.

Secondly, Lanyer talks about how God created Adam to be the most perfect man that

ever breathed on earth. God gave him a command that he was not to break. He was given

the power rule over the sea and the land. He could do anything in Eden but eat from the

tree. This one little apple had the power to bring danger and disgrace to them and all of

the people that come after Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve were promised death if the

fruit was eaten. Amelia felt that Adam knew all the consequences of eating the fruit. He

knew that the forbidden fruit would result in death. He should have known this and

persuaded Eve to not eat the fruit.

In the third stanza, Lanyer feels sorry for Eve since she had to bear the entire burden of

their sin all on her own even though Adam was the one who should have used his own

superior knowledge to know that he would be disobeying God’s direct order. He knew

eating the fruit was forbidden. She also points out that because Adam was so strong and

superior, Eve would have been unable to persuade him to do anything that he did not

want to do. He was more superior than her. He would not have listened to her anyway.

Finally, Lanyer states that the reason Eve persuaded Adam to eat the fruit was because

she loved him so much. She was innocent and wanted her love to have all the knowledge

so everything would become more clear to him. He would be even more superior than he

was before because he would know what God knew. By eating the fruit, they both took

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the knowledge of both good and evil regardless of the consequences. Would they have

known that their actions would be the fall of humanity.

In Eve’s Apology in Defense of Women by Amelia Lanyer, the author suggested that Eve

was not entirely to blame for the falling out of grace with God. It was because of her love

for Adam that they ate the forbidden fruit.