The student plans to write a dramatic monologue from Eve's perspective that challenges traditional biblical interpretations. It will give Eve a voice and portray her as a victim of Adam's actions, rather than as the sole cause of original sin. The poem will show that Adam was complicit in eating the forbidden fruit and later blamed Eve. It will also subvert expectations by suggesting Eve's pregnancy was accidental after an intoxicating encounter with Dionysus, rather than intentional for the sake of humanity. The poem will incorporate allusions to religion, mythology and other works while employing Duffy's typical techniques of symbolism, ambiguity and colloquial language.

2. She has been completely obscured by her partner Adam so the poem will give her a voice

3. The biblical focus was always on Adam’s actions whereas Eve was only paid attention to because of her function of childbearing.

5. This makes it feel more personal to the reader, targeting them and forcing attention to Eve’s words.

7. Previously it was believed that it was Eve who gave in to temptation first. She rebelled by eating from the tree of knowledge and tempted Adam to join her – she is the one who is credited with ‘original sin’ as are all women.

8. In this poem we see that actually Adam was fully aware of what was happening, he helped her climb up the tree and then blamed her completely afterwards.This engages the audience because it is challenging their traditional perception of her:<br />• As they find out that the whole idea of original sin is a complete lie or at least not all completely Eve’s fault. <br />• The fault is not only more equal, it’s almost entirely shifted over to Adam. <br />• She feels victimised which helps audiences to sympathise more than if they had only heard the biblical version.<br />The ending also challenges the reader’s traditional perception because:<br />• the majority of the audience believing in the biblical story also believe Eve gave birth to children as her role to further the human race<br />• But according to her, it was a complete accident after becoming intoxicated for the first time by Dionysus.<br />• This shocks the reader, will create unease and belittles the meaningfulness of human life that in the end it was all just a drunken mistake.<br />The themes in the poem will be:<br />• Religion, childbirth, science, class.<br /> • these themes are also present in her other poems of Mrs Darwin and Queen Herod<br />• Science and evolution theory reference when she calls him a ‘chimp’. The double meaning refers to both evolutionary theory as well as insulting him.<br />• Religion referred to in many places: God, the serpent, apples, the tree, manna, Gabriel, Hell, Prometheus, Dionysus<br />Similarities to other Duffy poems: <br />• ‘Sunday’s best’ in Eve is in reference to middle class church goers on Sundays who reserve their best and most formal wear<br />• Eve’s insulting and dismissive way of regarding Adam is a consistent theme throughout the collection: Mrs Icarus, Mrs Darwin, Frau Freud, Eurydice etc. <br />• She will mention her house becoming repossessed – indicating being wealthy enough for a mortgage – again, middle class lifestyles with links to Mrs Midas, Mrs Faust and Mrs Tiresias.<br />References to other historical/biblical/religious/mythological figures: <br />• Helen of Troy, men going to war – all over a woman, highlighting male stupidity/pride. <br />• A quote from Shakespeare, The Tempest: ‘Hell is empty, and all the devils are here’ to show the despair of having to live on earth after life in heaven, that they might as well have been sent to hell. • A mention of Gabriel, a last reminder of their old heavenly life. <br />• Greek mythological figures: the titan Prometheus stole fire and taught them both its use<br />• Dionysus is featured briefly as the one who gives Eve her first taste of intoxication, being the god of wine, the grape harvest, madness and ecstasy. <br />Common Duffy techniques used in these poems: <br />Clichés such as: <br />• men not asking for directions due to their typical pride<br />• ‘stand by your man’ (no matter what) - the idea of the female being loyal to him to the man because she is subservient and irrational in love <br />Symbolism: <br />• The serpent and the apple from the biblical story as symbols of temptation. <br />• The apple symbol is subverted –not just temptation but representing sustenance, Eve tells that she only ate them out of hunger<br />• Eve’s despair and slow surrender to sin is shown by how she finds that on earth she’s surrounded by the strong visual imagery ‘a thousand snakes’ like the first which led to hers and Adams’ fall.<br />Ambiguities: <br />• The ending of the poem is left open to interpretation. <br />• Eve reveals that her pregnancy was an accident because Dionysus ‘intoxicated’ her.<br />• it’s unclear if the children are also his, or belong to Adam – again challenging audience’s expectations. Who would think Eve’s children’s father wasn’t Adam?<br />• The poem will say that chance and fate conspired; might seems oxymoronic but means free will’s results and divine fate both ended with her staying with Adam, so it was him who doomed her from the start.<br />Colloquial Language: <br />• ‘Stick that’ when she is told ‘stand by your man’ – like good advice ‘one of the girls’ might give you. Seems youthful, contemporary and a more relatable voice.<br />Language:<br />• Alliteration in ‘Goodbye Gabriel’, adding to the musicality of the poem which is Duffy’s style<br />• The majority words will rhyme in ‘i’ or ‘e’ vowel sounds, which are soft and sound feminine<br />• Abstract ideas such as fate and chance are personified as they are said to have ‘conspired’. <br />• There will be an end focus on the end of lines where Eve sounds particularly outraged, to add to the sense of her anger.<br />Structure: <br />• Simplistic rhymes which help keep the rhythm at fast and steady pace. <br />• Internal rhymes will be used in places, such as ‘stand by your man’<br />• Repetition and assonance to add to the musicality of the poetry. <br />• Frequent use of enjambment to help keep a similar number of syllables in each line, pace it more regularly and once again add to the poem’s musicality <br />