Thursday, April 9, 2015
The Letters of Abelard and Heloise Chapters 2-5
"It was the first woman in the beginning who lured man from Paradise, and she who had been created by the Lord as his helpmate became the instrument of his total downfall" (67)
In Letter 4, Heloise really places emphasis on the obvious and deeply engrained sexism of the time. She asks Abelard why he would write her name in front of his on his letter to her and backs her argument that women are the lesser beings of the two sexes with multiple examples, such as the one above. I always find it interesting to hear different interpretations of the fall of mankind. The author of this text takes the stance that is was Eve's fault that man was kicked out of the Garden of Eden, however, I have read several other texts, including Paradise Lost, that suggest otherwise. Milton's Paradise Lost, had tremendous amounts of influence on how people perceived the fall of man (both Adam and Eve share the blame equally) and it was also written half of a century before The Letters of Abelard and Heloise was published. I do not know enough about the history of the religious and literary worlds in France to understand why the author of The Letters chose one interpretation while many others chose another or if it was purely a result of the social norm of sexism at the time. Does anyone have background knowledge of France and can answer why the author chose this interpretation? Also, what side do you take in this argument over who is to blame for the fall of man and why?
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The fall of man is almost unequivocally Eve's fault. One can argue about it all day, but in finality, she was the one to first eat from the tree of knowledge. As for the French interpretation, I do not think that this interpretation was inherent to France. This interpretation is ever-present across the Christian world and will always be the interpretation, for it is almost impossible to win an argument otherwise.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Brad. Most religious literature that includes a story of original sin depicts the woman eating from the tree of knowledge first, the man succumbing to evil second. Women are often seen as temptresses, and the author of "The Letters" even goes so far as to use the word "lured" when describing the woman's actions. I am not sure on the background of France, but I do not think this interpretation is based off of the sexism of the time; I think it is more religious suspicion.
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