The Garden of Eden
The Garden of Eden is a well talked about object in the literary world. This wondrous entity brings out imagination of what it looked like, how it smelled, what it meant to Adam and Eve, and what it now means to humanity today. The biblical garden serves as an excellent symbolic device, which can serve many differing purposes depending on the need of the author. An illustration of this point lends itself to two poems from the eighteenth century; "Poets Have Most Pleasure in This Life" by Margaret Cavendish and "The Garden" by Andrew Marvell. These two poems use the Garden of Eden in critically different ways, one a solitary haven and the other, a place of bliss and ignorance. At the same time, both authors use Eden to blame the other sex for foolishly eating the forbidden fruit and the banishment from paradise. The Cavendish poem has a light-hearted tone, which leads the reader down a seemingly happy path into the heart of nature. A balance between ignorance and knowledge shows through with the comparison of gardens versus forests. Gardens, especially the Garden of Eden, represent the elements of bliss and unawareness of objects outside of the immediate radius related to a person. Forests, on the other hand, represent "knowle
Comparing the two poems brings an almost comical situation. Both authors blame the other sex for the banishment from paradise. Neither of the two authors solves the problem or concedes that both parties were at fault in the trial of temptation. Both poems rejoice in the pleasure of the common day garden and the similarity of gardens to the Garden of Eden. Although Margaret Cavendish's attitude points towards an ignorance preference, she concedes to the beauty and wisdom of the forest. Andrew Marvell focuses on the wholesome beauty of the garden and the awesome trees. Both use the Garden of Eden to make seemingly different points, but in actuality, the purposes of the Eden metaphors are quite similar. Andrew Marvell mentions several times the enjoyment of a garden without a companion. The lack of a companion applies to the enjoyment of all kinds of nature as well as life in general. An underlying question of why God created a mate for man presents itself towards the end of the poem. Since the Garden is so pure and sweet, why fabricate a mate to take away from that purity? The questioning of the creation of women, blames women for the infinite expulsion from Eden. This follows from Eve 'tricking' Adam into eating the prohibited fruit. He strongly states, "such was that happy Garden-state, while Man there walked without a Mate" (Marvell 57). He believes the fabrication of Eve destroyed the pristine look of the garden with her willingness to fool easily by the simple flattery of the devil serpent. "A place so pure, and sweet," describes the Garden before the tainted hands of woman touched the sacred plot of ecstasy-filled land. The mention of "two paradises" in one reaffirms the accusatory claim, because the second paradise is solitude within the first paradise of the Garden of Eden (Marvell 63-64). Separation from a supposedly impure mate offers a more wholesome lifestyle. This isolation allows clearer thinking, and a simpler, less stressful life. Walking without a companion through Eden bri
Some common words found in the essay are:
Garden Eden, Knowing Marvell, Andrew Marvell, Eden Marvell, Margaret Cavendish, Mate Marvell, Pleasure Life, God Cavendish, Adam Eve, Eden Cavendish, garden eden, andrew marvell, paradise garden, margaret cavendish, forbidden fruit, paradise garden eden, desire cavendish, gardens garden, woman questions, poets pleasure, cavendish 11, gardens garden eden, poets pleasure life, eating forbidden fruit,
Approximate Word count = 1353
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
