Eve: A Biography

Eve: A Biography is the history of Everywoman. Her brief adventure in the Book of Genesis is where the Western idea of woman began, and three thousand years after Eve offered Adam the forbidden fruit, everyone still knows that losing Paradise was Eve's fault.

Pamela Norris traces the evolution of Eve's bad reputation, drawing on a rich and diverse tradition of storytelling that embraces myth, folk tale and popular romance, and puts the spotlight firmly on women and their sexuality. From Dinah and Delilah, Pandora and Psyche, to the snaky Lamias and Liliths who haunted nineteenth-century painting and literature, centuries of disobedient women have been linked with Eve, the original bad girl, providing ample ammunition for male fears and fantasies. But Eve's story has also been retold by women, who have found ingenious and often subversive ways to free her from her disreputable past.

Stimulating, intriguing and wittily erudite, Eve: A Biography is the entrancing tale of a folk maiden who metamorphoses into a vamp, a mermaid, a bluestocking, a witch, a virgin trapped inside the walls of a fertile garden and finally, perhaps, into a thoroughly modern woman who chews the apple of knowledge with gusto and wouldn't dream of offering Adam a bite.

Publishers Weekly

According to Norris, the history of sexism can be illuminated through the evolving interpretation of the biblical story of Adam and Eve. Beginning her comparative study with ancient Greek myths, she equates Eve with Pandora, whose curiosity brought evil into the world. Classical writers considered women to be troublemakers: Aristotle was noted for his "scientific" theory that the female was an imperfect male. Norris cites chapter and verse from Old and New Testament and apocryphal writings, medieval works and those of more recent writers ranging from Charlotte Bront to Anita Brookner. Twelve color plates of works by such masters as Piero della Francesca and Hieronymus Bosch represent the traditional view of Eve as a seductive beauty tempting Adam to sin. According to Genesis, Eve's punishment was the pain of childbirth and eternal submission to her husband, who is also condemned to labor for his bread. Both were cast out of the Garden of Eden, losing the gift of eternal life. While the early Christian church fathers regarded Eve as "the Devil's gateway" and "the first deserter of the divine law," other commentators have given the story a more favorable reading. The fall was a felix culpa ("happy fault"), when the two, led by Eve, first took responsibility for their destiny. Writers continue to be fascinated by Eve, but, Norris warns, the myth of Eve "was developed to manipulate and control women rather than to console them." Erudite but eminently accessible, Norris's account of how religious beliefs and cultural forces have affected prevailing views of women is an important addition to the literature of women's studies. Color and b&w illustrations. Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Pamela Norris has taught English in London, Paris, and Zagreb. Her publications include an anthology of Victorian women poets and collections of medieval and Renaissance poetry in addition to Everyman Library editions of the novels of Thomas Hardy and Jane Austen, and the poetry of the Bronte sisters. Her writing has recently appeared in the Literary Review and The Independent on Sunday.