Eve's Apology In Defense Of Women And To The Lady Lucie

Born in the mid 1500s, Aemilia Lanyer, was a girl who always stood up for her beliefs. She began writing poetry and put all her poems in a book called “Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum”. Within this book of her poetry are the poems titled “Eve’s Apology in Defense of Women” and “To The Lady Lucie”. Aemilia was an intelligent and strong woman who stood up for her beliefs and did not go with what society said during those days; the themes within her poems show her views on women empowerment. To begin with, Aemilia was born in 1569 to Baptist Bassano and Margaret Johnson. Both of her parents had died by the time she was eighteen years old due to unknown causes. While there is no other information given about Aemilia’s family, it is said that when her

Throughout the poem she challenges the biblical idea that women are to be blamed. She uses passages from Genesis and the gospel of Matthew to help to prove her point. This poem is written about the tale in the Bible about Adam and Eve. It tells of how Eve was apologizing for the sins she had committed and was also pointing out that it is not solely her fault. Aemilia also says that Eve first gave Adam the apple and that it was Adam’s own decision to consume the apple and that Eve was in no place to stop him from doing so. She goes on to say that Eve was created from Adam’s rib, and therefore whatever wrong Eve has done is Adam’s wrong doing as well, even though this idea contradicts that of everything that God creates is good. Lanyer goes on to say that because God blamed the entire situation on Eve, women were looked down upon and not seen as equals to the men. Aemilia states that men are the ones who killed Jesus and women were the ones trying to save him. She says that all of the blame has been placed onto one gender, and since women were solely blamed for the garden and ever since then women have basically been blamed for all the bad decisions and wrong doings of men. In this poem the apple that Eve brought to Adam is a symbol of sin and this idea comes from that of the Bible. Adam is another example because he represents the reason that Eve was blamed for everything, therefore making him a symbol of blame. Eve herself would be considered a symbol of innocence because she was just trying to give Adam some fruit and he did not have to take it and eat it but he did. This was put onto Eve because she was the one who brought Adam the apple to begin with. This poem challenged the views of people in the