Similar but Different (An analysis of Gender Issues in Literature)

Similar but Different

(An analysis of Gender Issues in Literature)

 Antonius Siwi Dharma Jati, SJ

These two kinds of poems are very interesting for me to see the differences and the similarities. Both of these poems were made based on the same story from Genesis in the Bible. I can see the similarity how John Milton and Amelia Lanyer created their poems. In the beginning, God created the first man and woman named Adam and Eve living in the Garden of Eden. That place was prepared for them to live, and God gave everything that they needed including their authorities to rule over God’s other creatures. Only one thing that they could not do, that was to eat the forbidden fruit popularly known as knowledge fruit. Both Milton and Lanyer told that Adam and Eve broke God’s command, because they ate that forbidden fruit after the evil Serpent cheated them. Finally they fell into sin that made God was angry and chase them away from Eden.

However, there is one different description of Eve in these 2 poems. Furthermore, it is very interesting for me to analyze and reflect on their ways of describing.  Milton portrayed Eve as a foolish, silly and stupid woman. As a man, John Milton is free to portray a more complicated character that equally represented women’s value. In other words, he wants to say that women are always the sources of the problems in this world.

On the contrary, Lanyer’s Eve is like a wise woman trapped and cheated. Lanyer’s Eve is portrayed as a good-hearted woman but ignorant. Lanyer claims that Eve known of what we were bereaved. She had not condescended. That explanation relieves Eve of purposeful evil. In contrast, Eve’s role in the temptation scene from Paradise Lost is more involved. Let us look at this passage.

Salve Deus Rex Iudaeorum (1611) (Latin: God Saves the King of the Jews)

Our mother Eve, who tasted of the tree,

Giving to Adam what she held most dear,

Was simply good, and had no power to see;

The after coming harm did not appear.

The Subtile serpent that our sex betrayed

Before our fall so sure a plot had laid

...

Not Eve, whose fault was only too much love,

Which made her give this present to her dear,

...

Yet men will boast of knowledge, which he took

From Eve’s fair hand, as from a learned book.

            According to Lanyer, Eve is neither stupid nor vain. The source of the problem is the serpent that trapped and deceived her. By chance, Eve was the one tempted to eat that forbidden fruit. It seems that Eve is the source of sin that made God expelled them from the Garden of Eden. Whereas Eve just did not know or had not enough knowledge to against the serpent’s temptation. When Eve gave Adam the forbidden fruit, she had no intention to bring Adam into the sin. She even wanted to show her great love to Adam, her beloved. By this description, Lanyer did not want everyone to blame Eve as the source of sin.  I am not really sure, but I think that Lanyer wrote Salve Deus Rex Iudaeorum in order to fight against the social conditions and the cultures surrounding her that constructed women under men, including traditional notions that women are ignorant and emotional.

            Meanwhile, John Milton wrote his poem Paradise Lost several years later after Lanyer had finished her Salve Deus Rex Iudaeorum. It means that he was influenced by the patriarchal culture. The Western culture in the past was prioritising men over women. Historically in Western culture, power has rested with men. Women have been excluded from such roles and men have handed the power on their sons. Men have an authority to rule over women, and men’s role is more important than women’s role. Thus, the people in western country, especially those who came from the royal family would rather have sons than daughters. Furthermore, Western literature was influenced also by this culture. In his Poem, Paradise Lost, Milton’s Eve was described as the fool, silly and vain woman.

Paradise Lost

Pure as the expanses of heaven; I thither went

With unexperienced thought, and laid me down

...

Mine eyes till now, and pined with vain desire,

Had not a voice thus warned me, What thou seest,

What there thou seest fair creature is thyself,

With thee it came and goes: but follow me

...

Multitudes like thyself, and thence be called

Mother of human race: what could I do,

But follow straight, invisibly thus led?

In my reflection, I do not want to blame which one is better between Milton’s and Lanyer’s Eve. Based on those 2 poems, I am brought back to the reflection of gender issues. I myself do not agree with the opinion that men should be better than women. If I look at myself, as a man, I sometimes feel sorry for women who are constructed under men. God actually created women and men equally. Once again, that is for me. I appreciate all movements such as feminism or women’s rights movement. However, I have all along been living in the patriarchal culture. It unconsciously influenced me that men should be better than women. I think, it is just the matter of the way of thinking. In the past, it is true that women were treated differently. They could not pursue higher study, because they were oppressed and forced to work in the kitchen as housewives. Even in my culture in the past, women were constructed only to cook, give birth to the children and dress up. The people unconsciously underestimate women. Meanwhile, men should be constrained to work and feed their families. However, it is different now, because people begin to realise how important the equity is. Nowadays, we can see there are many Presidents, Prime Ministers and Senior Officials in the world who are women. Only in some of the developing country, the people are applying strict patriarchal culture.

Gender issues are not easy to be solved. Like a culture that is ingrained, it took a long time to change. Changing the way people think is not as easy as turning the palm of the hand. However, we must be grateful now for little by little the people way of thinking is changed. They begin to respect and not to underestimate the women. Let us support any women’s movements such as feminism, women’s rights movement and many more so that we can practise dignity as God's creation, which looked at all the same. We do not need to rush or desire to be a hero. At the very least, we start from ourselves first to be more respectful to women. Ranging from small things, we will be able to make a difference to the world.

Dedicated to the women in the world who still experience gender inequality.

With love,

Antonius Siwi DJ, SJ