Who is more sexist: humanity or God? Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay All members of society, religious or not, have at some point heard the legendary story of Adam and Eve. The story of the Bible has inspired countless retellings of humanity's creation, each with its own unique interpretations and expansions. The Adam Play was written in the 12th century and provides detailed instructions and scripts for acting companies wishing to perform the story of Adam and Eve. The drama of Adam draws on the original fifty or so verses of the Bible to create a sexist belief of Eve's role in the fall of humanity that spans nine hundred and sixty-two verses. From the beginning of Adam's Work, the author's use of characterization, speech, and caption emphasizes Adam's superiority over Eve and presents the audience with the narrative of a partial Creator. The original story of Adam and Eve describes almost nothing beyond creation and creation. ruin of the human race. The brevity of the biblical story lends itself to interpretation, which the author of Adam's Game uses to create a sexist portrait of Eve. In God's very first speech to Adam after the creation of Eve, God declares: “She is your wife, she is your equal; / You should be faithful to her. / You will love her and she will love you too” (10-12). The word used for "equal" in the original French edition of the work is "pareil", defined in the Old French-English dictionary, henceforth referred to as OFED, as "equal, equal, partner, spouse". The beginning of the play places Adam and Eve as equals, but the rest of the play shows that they are not. Within the same speech, just two lines later, God continues: “She should heed your command / As you should do what I ask” (14-15). This statement creates a hierarchy with God at the top, Adam obeying God, and Eve at the bottom obeying both Adam and God. If Adam and Eve were truly equal, they would pay attention to each other's commands and obey only the Father's requests. Evidence of Eve's position beneath Adam in Adam's Game can be seen further in God's first speech to Eve. God speaks directly to Eve, saying, “He [Adam] is your husband, you his wife. / To him you should always lean. / Do not depart from his discipline. / Serve him with love and devotion of spirit” (33-36). God's language in this speech clearly shows Eve's role in creation, and it does not have to be the same as Adam's. Eve was created to happily serve Adam and obey his commands, which is shown again when God speaks, “If you are his good accessory, I will place you near him in glory” (38-39). In the original French edition of the work, the word for “accessory” is “adjutoire”, while in the OFED it is defined as “helper”. This means that in order for Eve to sit next to Adam in glory, she must be his good helper, while God does not give any requirements that Adam must meet for Eve to sit next to her in glory. This is completely different from the Bible, where God places no requirements on Eve to achieve glory other than following His will. In the Bible, God places Adam in the Garden of Eden after his creation, before the formation of Eve. In Adam's Game, God creates both partners before leading them into the Garden. Upon entering, the stage directions command God to approach Adam and speak to him privately about the gift he is giving him: a long life without hunger, thirst, pain, or sadness (48-57). The captions aim to ask God to take Adam away from Eve to describe everything he is giving him. All these things were not donatedto Eve too? The author makes a point of intentionally separating Adam from Eve for this particular part of the conversation, which highlights God's favoritism for Adam. God brings Adam back to Eve to continue his speech, saying, “I tell you [Adam] now, and I want Eve to hear this / (For if she doesn't, everything will go wrong)—” (58-59). The Choice of God speaking to both Adam and Eve for this part of the speech shows His preference for Adam. The Lord intentionally expresses doubts about Eve in front of Adam, which only reinforces their inequality in the eyes of the Father quote shows that God already has doubts about Eve from the first day of her existence. The author of the work hints at God's knowledge and expectation of Eve's sin before she even experiences temptation should not expect the worst from His children. The more the public reads the work, the more the work deviates from the true story of a righteous Creator and an equal man and wife. The inequality of Adam and Eve is seen of new in God's warning about the tree of knowledge. After being shown the many inhabitants and flora of the Garden of Eden, God once again takes Adam aside. The captions then instruct: “And he [God] should show [Adam] the forbidden tree and its fruit saying: / But this fruit I forbid you both to try. / If you eat it, you will surely die” (101-02). If Adam and Eve are truly equal, why does God only speak to Adam? If eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge has such dire consequences, God should want both parties to heed the warning. These actions directly establish Adam as the superior of the two, making him the only person he trusts to pass on the Unbreakable Rule. In contrast, in the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, only Adam is created when the Bible states: “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and care for it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You may eat from every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you must not eat, for when you eat of it you will surely die'” (Gen. 2:15-17). God gives the command not to eat from the tree of knowledge before creating Eve. Although in both stories Eve is not directly told to avoid eating from the tree, the Bible version does not place Adam above Eve, because the only reason she is not told is because he did not yet exist. In contrast, in The Work of Adam Eve is not explicitly told because she is portrayed as unworthy of hearing God's commandment, making the division between Adam and Eve more evident. The author of Adam's Work uses the serpent temptation scene to characterize Eve as vain, gullible, and disloyal to Adam. In the serpent temptation of Eve, he says, “You are such a delicate and tender thing; / You are fresher than a rose in spring. / You are as white as crystal, or as the snow / That falls down on the frozen streams” (226-29). The serpent appeals to Eve's vanity to tempt her to accept his words as truth. The serpent continues with his speech, calling Adam an “imbecile,” an “imbecile,” and a “great idiot” (220-31). Throughout this speech, Eve never defends Adam from the serpent's insults, which to a medieval audience would have made her seem unfaithful to her husband. Only after hearing the insults against Adam and the serpent's flattery does Eve agree to listen to what the serpent has to say and accept his claims about the tree of knowledge. Eve's neutrality during the serpent's insults to Adam, and her affinity for flattery, cast Eve in a very negative and vapid light, very different from the described Evein the original story. The Bible describes the scene of the fall with the serpent saying: "You will certainly not die... For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will become like God, knowing good and evil" (Gen. 3: 4-5). In the original story, the serpent appeals to Eve's desire to be like her Creator. This reason for giving in to temptation is more understandable to the audience than succumbing to flattery, as in The Play of Adam. Bible readers, especially Christians, would identify with the desire to be like the Father, but would resent a woman who cursed humanity in exchange for compliments. The author of Adam's Tragedy intentionally changes the cause of Eve's betrayal to make her a less sympathetic character. Eve's potential for sympathy is completely lost in the scene where Adam and Eve eat from the tree of knowledge. The author of Adam's Game changes Eve's characterization again by having her insult Adam to convince him to sin. Eve urges Adam to eat the fruit by saying, “You will be a coward if you do not” (297). The author writes Eve as someone willing to insult her husband to get what she wants after a conversation with the serpent. Not only is Eve now giving in to temptation, but she has also taken on the serpent's tendency to insult Adam. Eva is no longer an innocent woman who accidentally falls prey to temptation, but is a woman who listens to verbal attacks against her husband and then repeats those attacks herself to get what she wants. After this fall into temptation, the chauvinistic treatment of Eve in Adam's Game reaches its climax. Immediately after eating the fruit, Adam begins the longest speech in the play, despairing over his loss of innocence and betrayal of the Creator. Almost halfway through the speech, Adam turns to his wife and begins to condemn her. Adam exclaims: “Ah, woman! False harpy! / In the evil hour, born of me! / I would rather have my rib burned / than live to make this evil turn! (357-60). Adam condemns Eve's entire existence because of a sin he also committed. God has given all man free will, which Adam, like Eve, uses to consciously decide to eat the forbidden fruit. Although Eve persuaded her husband to eat the fruit with her, it was ultimately Adam's decision, making him equal in guilt for causing man's fall. In Adam's Game, Adam never fully admits his guilt and continually names Eve as the cause of his suffering. When God confronts His children after their fall, Adam again places all the blame on Eve. Adam pleads, “The woman you gave me: / She was the first to break the law! … A bad decision led to biting— / But that transgression was my wife’s” (418-23). Adam reports his wife's actions to God, hoping to save his own skin by giving up Eve. Although God does not forgive Adam for listening to his wife about his Creator, he blames Adam much less than Eve. When the Father turns his attention to Eve, he says: “So many difficulties and so many worries / You have struck down all your heirs. / All those who come into the world / Will mourn your sin forever” (458-61). God condemns Eve by placing the eternal suffering of the entire world on her shoulders and none on that of Adam. The work again distances Adam from Eve and increases their inequality. In the Bible, the Lord punishes Eve by saying: “I will make your pains during pregnancy very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will dominate you" (Gen 3:16). Only after Eve's betrayal does God place her below Adam in the original story. He does not carry the weight of the world's suffering or condemnation on his shoulders.