Movie: All About Eve
English 30
Spring "97"
In the film All About Eve, (directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and released in
1950), Eve Harrison (Anne Baxter) was a young woman with evil running through her veins. She wanted to be "somebody" and chose to get there through Margo
Channing (Betty Davis) who was a famous stage star. Eve would do whatever it took to get where she wanted to be, including hurt the ones that trusted her and took her in as a "lost lamb". Though Eve was already evil within and throughout, the people around her made it even easier to acomplish her goals.
Margo was one of the most popular stage actresses and put herself high on a pedastel, and looked at someone like Eve as being below her, a poor soul that could be of no threat to anyone, especially Margo Channing. Eve played the meek and shy girl that idolized Margo. She claimed to attend all the preformaces of the play that week due to the fact that she adored Margo and she would have nowhere else to go anyway. Doing this allowed Eve to get her foot in the door.
If it wasn't for Margo's conceitedness, Eve would have had to work a little bit harder to get this. Margo took her into her home.
Margo's secretary-aid, Birdie (Thelma Ritter), was the first to sense something was strange about Eve, but her position made it not her place to speak her mind. Eve knew this and also knew it would be easy to take control of her position because of this. It would only seem to Margo that she enjoyed doing things for her.
Eve charmed Bill Simpson (Gary Merrill), director and Margo's lover, with her feminine qualities that Margo lacked. Eve just seemed to be overly interested in everything Bill had to say about the theater. She used to keep him admiring her and at the same time, drove Margo crazy with jealousy to tear their relationship apart. Little did she realize, Bill had no romantic feelings towards Eve at all, so she blew her cover when she made a pass at him.
Karen Richards (Celeste Holm), Margo's best friend, was the one that found and introduced Eve to Margo. She was the type of person that would anything for anyone, sort of niave and trusted Eve from day one. Karen was amazed by Eve's devotion towards her idol. After getting into Margo's home, she used Karen's kindness to subtly suggest that she would love to replace Margo's pregnant understudy. Once again she got her way.
Eve does exactly what God commanded her to not do. Now that I have explained the main things a bout both stories I will continue by discussing the main themes and symbols that are existent in both stories.
how the lord used her for sex and as a trophy. This is shown when she
In Paradise Lost, one of the differences God is aware of the betrayal his creations unlike Frankenstein. There is a point where Adam desires a companion to share the world with, thus God creates Eve from one of Adam’s ribs. He is in a predicament now, due to there are now two beings to love now, but who deserves the more affection. He “can neither love himself adequately nor love Eve as himself unless have love God adequately – and so make his love for Eve, the unity of their shared self, an expression of that higher love” (Gross 95). This scene displays one of Adam’s limitations of his free will. Thus creating her in being the submissive which eventually became her downfall, Adam’s and the rest of humanity. Eve is flawed, she has the inclination of self-love, a quality she should not be capable of possessing or acting upon. The only love that she should be expressing is her love for Adam in a way also loving God. This becomes their weakness. Satan learns about this weakness and exploits it as his advantage to enact his scheme. He influences a susceptible Eve, by coercing her into eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge. He claims to Eve about the fruit “By the fruit? It gives you life To knowledge by the threat’ner? Look on me, Me, who have touched and tasted; yet both live” (Book 9 l. 686-688). Satan is able to persuade them to consume the fruit that provides them
In the era of “Genesis”, Eve known to be submissive to her man, while Lysistrata is not. Eve has a low tolerance of self-control, while Lysistrata has a determined intuition of abiding by what she standing for. The roles of women evolved dramatically over these time periods, women went from being beneath the power of a man to bring the power that rules over man. Aside from differing, Eve and Lysistrata carry similar common traits as well. Both women are loyal to what they believe is correct. True character is shown between both females in Eve’s devotion to her husband, Adam, along with Lysistrata 's faithful persistence to her
So saying, her rash hand in evil hour/ Forth reaching to the Fruit, she pluck’d, she eat:/Earth felt the wound, and Nature from her seat/Sighing through all her Works gave sign of woe,/ That all was lost. Back to the Thickest slunk/The guiltie Serpent, and well might, for EVE /Intent now wholly on her taste. (6)
Bette Davis was perfect for the role. Bette Davis, like Margo her onscreen character, was a 40 year old actress who was insecure about her role in filmography due to her age. It was a common perception that women over 40 could not survive in the industry, and Bette Davis felt the same. The parallel
Most versions of Eve’s experiences in Eden before the fall are never truly explored, instead adhering strictly to the biblical text and focusing on her role in the fall. Milton, however, offers a radically different depiction of Eve. Her active involvement is not constrained only to her deception and fall. Milton goes beyond her portrayal in the Bible, depicting her prelapsarian role in Eden. While the hierarchical order of all creatures, including men and women, remains intact, Milton portrays an Eve who works directly alongside Adam. She is able to think and act for herself and exhibits her independence throughout the story. Milton’s Eve in Paradise Lost, then, is a feminist, rejecting
Effects can vary from health issues to developmental and emotional impairments. According to the Centers for Control and Prevention (CDC), survivors of child maltreatment suffer from health effects their entire lives, facing an estimated $32,648 in medical expenses as children and roughly $10,530 as adults. Reaffirming these assertions is the Child Welfare Information Gateway, a service of the U.S. Children’s Bureau, which reports that people who were abused as children generally experience poorer physical health throughout their lives compared to their non-abused counterparts; they are at higher risk of having arthritis, bronchitis, high blood pressure, and ulcers, among other things. A Duke University study also found that those who were victims of violence as children tend to age more rapidly and are predicted to live shorter lives than those who were not. In addition to the health complications, child abuse victims are also at an elevated risk of developing problematic behaviors. They are more likely to evolve as violent or antisocial, become juvenile delinquents or drug users, or assume risky sexual behaviors. The Child Welfare Information Gateway indicates that victims, compared to non-victims, are 11 times more likely to be jailed for criminal behavior as a juvenile, 2.7 times more likely to be jailed for violent and criminal behavior as an adult, and 3.1 times more likely to be jailed for
Childhood trauma has a significant impact on the life of a child. It affects the child’s overall functioning and development, including emotional, cognitive, behavioral, and social elements. (Perry, Pollard, Blaicley, Baker, & Vigilante, 1995). An overwhelming number of children experience some type of trauma in developmentally critical years which, as previously mentioned, has a major impact on the various aspects of their functioning- specifically their development. Trauma can present itself in a multitude of forms. It may occur that the child lives or lived in a state of poverty or that he suffered a significant injury or the loss of a parent or caregiver. A disheartening number of children experience neglect or abuse in its various forms;
If Adam would have treated Eve with more freedom and would have cared less Eve would not have tried to prove her faithfulness. Eve would have known how to wonder, be by herself and handle any temptation that came her way. Eve would have known to be free. Satan also played a big part in Eve eating the apple. What can we say? Satan has a very persuasive tongue and knew how to convince Eve. Eve did not know how to be free and Satan knew
Child abuse is defined as the physical, sexual or emotional maltreatment or neglect of a child or children. Nowadays, you hear about numerous child abuses every year and every year the statists grow larger. Tens of thousands of children each year are traumatized by physical, sexual, and emotional abusers or by caregivers who neglect them, making child abuse as common as it is shocking. Most people cannot imagine what would make adults use violence against a child, and the worse the behavior is, the more unimaginable it seems. People do not realize the different forms of abuse children may receive. This list includes physical, mental, emotional, neglect, and sexual abuse. The psychological result of each abused child is often the same: deep emotional scars and a feeling of worthlessness.
...tations of Eve vary. Eve’s story may be written very simply in the Bible, but the way that the pilgrims interact with scripture make the straightforward account take on more diverse interpretations.
Eve knows of the threat which Satan poses to both her and Adam, yet she is able to make the descions to separate for both Adam and herself since her opinions are just as important as Adams throughout their partnership. In an attempt to convince Eve of the potential dangers to both himself and Eve Adam states, “His [Satan’s] wish and best advantage, us asunder/ Hopelessness to circumvent us joynd, where each/ to the other speedie aide might at lend (9.258-60).” Adam knows that Satan will take his “best advantage” to strike when they are separated from each other furthermore Adam understands that he may need Eve’s aide if confronted by Satan. Eve is not the only vulnerable one in their relationship; this creates a perspective for the reader in which Adam and Even are equally vulnerable as partners rather than one in which Adam functions as Eve’s
Eve’s language is drastically altered when she partakes of the forbidden fruit. It becomes permeated with blasphemy, self-praise and selfish words.
...to this seduction because she wishes for an alternate world, a world where she would understand her identity, shed her naïveté, and gain independence from Adam. God and Adam try to conquer Eve by imposing rules and ownership upon her, but this does not work. The mother of all mankind falls from her state of grace and innocence when she perceives that she will gain from her seduction by Satan and by disobeying God and Adam.