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The Feminist Essentialism of Mark Twain: Eve as the Empowered Feminine

by Sara Krastins

At the turn of the 19th century, feminism was erupting in the United States. Women were no longer willing to passively accept the guidelines and expectations that had been put in place for them by patriarchal structures. Rather than remain silent, like they had been encouraged to do their entire lives, women were demanding more rights. The suffragist movement was not only about the right to vote; it also included the fight for more rights in all aspects of life. Women actively fought for their rights while simultaneously expressing their intellectual capacities. Although a great deal of men during this time opposed the demands of these women, there were many individuals who supported and fought alongside them; Mark Twain was one of these individuals. He was both an avid feminist and an essentialist. In addition to believing in rights for women, he also believed that there are inherent differences between men and women. These differences did not favor one sex over another; they merely existed. The impact 19th and 20th century feminism had on Twain’s life and writing is clearly illustrated in Twain’s retelling of the creation story in The Complete Diaries of Adam and Eve, which depicts a curious and intellectually capable version of Eve. In the diaries, Eve’s discovery of fire, her role in naming, her awareness of grammar, and her free expression all illustrate Twain’s feminist, essentialist beliefs. Probably the most significant goal of the late 19th and early 20th century feminist movement was the fight for women’s suffrage. In her article “Women’s Suffrage Movement,” Tina Gianoulis informs readers that the woman’s suffrage movement started at “the Seneca Falls Convention, held in New York State on July 19 and 20, 1848…[and was] attended by about 250 women and 40 men[;] the convention addressed many issues of women’s rights, including the right to vote” (Gianoulis). The fight for women’s suffrage was neither easy nor short. It took seventy- two years after the Seneca Falls Convention before

the nineteenth amendment was ratified and women were federally granted the right to vote. The efforts of the anti-suffragist movement were widespread— women were often ridiculed and repressed by men as well as by fellow women, who believed in alternative methods of gaining equal rights. In his essay “Never a Fight of Woman Against Man: What Textbooks Don’t Say About Women’s Suffrage,” Joe C. Miller recognizes that at the same time the suffragists were campaigning for their cause, “the ‘antis,’ as they were called, testified before legislatures, published articles, and newsletters, held public meetings, and eventually debated the suffragists” (Miller 438-439). Gianoulis emphasizes that the little press that the convention did receive was “mostly condescending and contemptuous with the exception of those by some progressive journalists such as the famous abolitionist Frederick Douglass, who had attended the event himself ” (Gianoulis). Although this convention is often regarded today as a significant landmark in United States history, it’s important to note that it was largely debased by the general population during this period. In addition to anti-suffragist groups, the women’s suffrage movement encountered many other obstacles prior to ratification. During the Civil War, the suffragists partnered with abolitionists in hopes that when the war was won, African Americans would be granted full citizenship and women would be granted it as well (Gianoulis). However, this was not the case. Gianoulis notes that to the dismay of many, “when the war ended, many national leaders continued to argue against giving women the vote. Many suffragists regarded this as a betrayal, and they reacted with bitter disappointment” (Gianoulis). Despite the fact that both women and African Americans experienced oppression, this renunciation of support caused a divide between the suffragist and abolitionist movements. Following the initial feeling of betrayal, suffragists were once again let down by their leaders in 1870 when “the

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fifteenth amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed, granting the right to vote to Black men, with no mention of women” (Gianoulis), fifty years before women would be given the right to vote. When Mark Twain was writing The Complete Diaries of Adam and Eve at the turn of the century, new wave feminism and the women’s suffrage movement were in full swing. Twain’s own relationship with the movement is evident in his writing during this time. Twain was not only a supporter of suffrage, but he was also an activist. On January 20, 1901 at the annual meeting of the Hebrew Technical School for Girls, Mark Twain gave a speech titled “Votes for Women” that empowered the young women in the audience and encouraged change in the world. Twain ended his speech with this statement:

I should like to see the time come when women shall help to make laws. I should like to see that whiplash, the ballot, in the hands of women. As for this city’s government, I don’t want to say much, except that it is a shame—a shame; but if I should live twenty-five years longer—and there is no reason why I shouldn’t—I think I’ll see women handle the ballot. If women had the ballot today, the state of things in this town would not exist. (Twain)

Not only did Twain offer support to the women in the audience, but he also condemned the government’s failure to grant women the right to vote. In addition to his outright activism and outspoken nature in favor of women, Twain also used his writing, specifically The Complete Diaries of Adam and Eve, to positively represent women in the literary sphere. In addition to highlighting Twain’s feminist perspective, The Complete Diaries of Adam and Eve also illustrates an essentialist understanding of gender. In her essay “Ways to Think About Gender,” Sally O’Driscoll asserts that unlike a person’s sex— their biological make up—“‘gender’ is not something absolute, but is a shifting set of characteristics, [used] to compare the ways men and women behave in different cultures” (O’Driscoll 3). Essentialism is based on the concept that there are inherent differences between the two genders that should not be ignored. As O’Driscoll notes, “the essentialist position tends to see the sexed body as crucial, and gender characteristics as innate—as ‘essentially’ part of the biological body rather than separate from it.”

(O’Driscoll 1). This does not necessarily mean that one gender is better than the other, only that males and females are different in visible, biologically innate ways. Eve’s free expression throughout The Complete Diaries of Adam and Eve further asserts Twain’s advocacy for free speech for women (i.e., the right to vote). The Complete Diaries of Adam and Eve gives a strong voice to a female character, something that was rarely seen during this time. Through her diary entries, Eve expresses her thoughts, feelings, intellectual curiosity, and wonder. By illustrating Eve through her first person perspective as well as through the eyes of an oppressive male (Adam), Twain highlights the negative treatment of women and their ability to prove their oppressors wrong. Twain illustrates Eve’s critical thinking abilities through her diary and in turn represents the intelligence of women in general. Eve’s first diary entry is nine pages long, showing an extensive thought process. It is clear that Twain is trying to establish Eve as a thoughtful and an intellectually curious individual. In her first moments of existence, Eve is able to come to the conclusion, “if I am an experiment, am I the whole of it? No, I think not; I think the rest of it is part of it. I am the main part of it, but I think the rest of it has its share in the matter” (Twain 95). Through this depiction of Eve as an intelligent being, Twain could be asserting that women have the intellectual capability to reason and understand their world. Twain also rejects misogynistic criticisms of women when he addresses the nature of Eve’s emotional disposition. Twain’s depiction of Eve’s ability to understand her emotions goes against the typical 19th and 20th century image of women as hysterical and incapable of dealing with their emotions. At one point Eve writes, “I cried a little, which was natural, I suppose, for one of my age” (Twain 103). Eve’s nonchalance about crying challenges the idea of women as emotionally inept. In her article, “The Hysterical Woman: Sex Roles and Role Conflict in 19th Century America” Carol Smith-Rosenberg notes that since the 19th century, “hysteria has been seen as characteristically female— the hysterical woman the embodiment of a perverse or hyper femininity” (Smith-Rosenberg 653). Eve’s realization that her crying is natural exposes Twain’s essentialist perspective, as it is clear that Adam and

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Eve’s level of emotional-sensitivity is different. Adam gives little insight into how he is feeling when he writes in his diary. Instead, his entries are limited to factual, detached observations like, “been examining the great waterfall. It is the finest thing on the estate, I think” (Twain 5). Adam is much less expressive than Eve, which is clear in the differing lengths and specificity of their diary entries. For instance, when Eve refers to her crying as natural, she is simply illustrating the innate differences between men and women. Twain shows no indication as to whether or not these differences imply weakness because he does not believe they do. Twain simply wishes to identify that there are differences between these two genders and re-contextualize “crying” as a neutral feminine trait. Twain’s feminist beliefs are further illustrated in the chapter when Eve discovers fire. Historically, the discovery of fire was one of the most important occurrences for mankind, as it provided light, warmth, and opportunities for new cooking and agricultural methods. Although fire was never mentioned in the original Genesis story, Twain chose to include this discovery in his retelling of the creation story. In Eve’s Diary, she recalls:

I laid a dry stick on the ground and tried to bore a hole in it with another one, in order to carry out a scheme that I had, and soon I got an awful fright. A thin, transparent, bluish film rose out of the hole, and I dropped everything and ran! I thought it was a spirit, and I was so frightened… Suddenly the name of it occurred to me, though I had never heard of it before. It was fire! (Twain 141-145)

On her own, Eve discovers fire accidentally. She claims that she was originally trying to “carry out a scheme” (141); here, Twain could be implying that Eve’s curiosity led to her discovery of fire. Not only is Eve the person to discover fire, she also immediately knows the name of her discovery. Twain is positively presenting female intellectual curiosity as well as highlighting the inherent intelligence of women. Twain’s choice to have Eve discover fire could potentially be advocating for women’s education, by highlighting Eve’s innate intelligence and its ability to flourish when given the freedom to do so. Twain’s essentialist perspective is shown when he further presents the intrinsic female intelligence by highlighting Eve’s grammatical awareness. When

Eve discovers that Adam is a man, she quickly understands that she must use different pronouns for him. In her diary Eve writes, “If this reptile is a man, it isn’t an it, is it? That wouldn’t be grammatical, would it? I think it would be he. Think so. In that case one would parse it thus: nominative, he; dative, him; possessive, his’n” (Twain 115). Eve understands there are differences between her and Adam, and she illustrates this with her pronoun assignment. This further highlights Twain’s essentialist perspective, as Twain establishes that even Eve recognizes the difference between Adam and Eve, and these differences must be established by the assignment of separate pronouns. When attempting to assign a pronoun to Adam, Eve quickly realizes that Adam is a man and not like the other animals in Paradise. In her article “Hierarchical Naming in Milton’s Paradise Lost,” Rebecca Cantor reveals that as a result of assigning these masculine pronouns, “Eve quickly appreciates that her labeling of this creature means something. She can no longer treat the man the same way she treats all of the other animals” (Cantor 69). The realization that different pronouns must be used to address Adam and Eve lays the groundwork for the continuous essentialist nuances throughout the rest of the diaries. The role of naming in The Complete Diaries of Adam and Eve was inspired by the hierarchical power that naming gave Adam and Eve in John Milton’s Paradise Lost. Cantor highlights that as a fan of Milton’s, “Twain was not only influenced by Milton’s subject, but also by the weight he placed on the significance and impact of naming. In Paradise Lost, Milton established a system of hierarchy-based naming that Twain later inverted in his own versions of the creation story” (Cantor 65). Naming is also used in The Complete Diaries of Adam and Eve to empower the female character. Cantor argues that generally, the hierarchical nature of naming in Paradise Lost “requires transference of power from someone powerful to someone less so” (Cantor 66). In The Complete Diaries, Eve names herself, as Adam expresses in his diary: “The new creature says its name is Eve. That is all right, I have no objections. Says it is to call it by when I want it to come. I said it was superfluous” (Twain 17). Cantor believes that Eve’s naming of herself “is a significant sign of empowerment. Adam tries to undercut her

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power by saying that the name is unnecessary, but Eve insists” (Cantor 68). Adam eventually accepts Eve’s self-naming and calls her by that name for the rest of his diary. In addition to naming herself, Eve names many other places and animals in Paradise. Following Twain’s essentialist point of view, the blindly pragmatic Adam is slow to understand the practicality of naming. He struggles to see why naming is important, especially because naming does not come naturally to him the way it does to Eve. Instead, when Adam does try to name things, like Cain, he gives him a scientific name “Kangaroorum Adamiensis” instead of a practical name like one Eve would give. Naming further serves as a tool of empowerment for women when it becomes evident that Adam is much less proficient at naming. Eve feels proud of her naming abilities. She writes:

I have taken all the work of naming things off his hands, and this has been a great relief to him, for he has no gift in that line, and is evidently very grateful. He can’t think of a rational name to save him, but I do not let him see that I am aware of this defect (Twain 119).

Eve believes she is doing Adam a favor by naming everything in order to protect him from the embarrassment of his defect. According to Cantor, Twain shows that Eve is not just naming aimlessly, as she notes that “Adam lacks the skill, making her feel powerful” (Cantor 69). In this sense, naming is both a representation of the innate power that woman has over man as well as the female ability to recognize this power. In addition to the ways that Twain highlights Eve’s innate power, he also depicts Adam and Eve as completely different beings, furthering asserting his essentialist beliefs. The characters are described in different ways and behave in different ways. In her article “Gender Ideology in the Diary of Adam and Eve by Mark Twain,” Paramita Ayuningtyas notes that Adam “is described as a practical man—a character labeled as masculine. He judges things in paradise based on their usefulness” (Ayuningtyas 371). This is part of the reason why Adam has a difficult time understanding the naming because he sees it as a purposeless act. Eve writes that Adam “talks very little. Perhaps it is because he is not bright, and is sensitive about it and wishes to

conceal it. It is such a pity that he should feel so, for brightness is nothing; it is in his heart that the value lies” (Twain 131). Eve’s reflection not only tells the reader about Adam, but as importantly, offers insight about Eve herself. Ayuningtyas notes that Eve has different priorities; she is more focused on emotional intelligence: For instance, she assumes that Adam is sensitive about his inability to name the animals, she is constantly enamored with the beauty of Paradise, and she explores her world. Every day, Eve admires the “prettiness” of Paradise, while Adam thinks about building a shelter to protect him from the rain (Ayuningtyas 371). Their dissimilar reactions to Cain further exhibit their divergent existences within the world. Eve has motherly instincts, a characteristic that would be most closely associated with women. When Cain is born, Adam observes, “the coming of the creatures seems to have changed her whole nature and made her unreasonable about experiments. She thinks more of it than she does any of the other animals, but is not able to explain why” (Twain 57). Immediately, Eve has a motherly attachment to Cain. In comparison, Adam has no relationship with the child. Instead, Adam spends his time trying to understand what the creature is. This further alludes to the differences in the ways that Eve and Adam interact with their worlds: While Eve leads with her heart, Adam spends his time trying to understand the practicality of Cain. At one point, Adam writes, “if it dies, I will take it apart and see what its arrangements are” (Twain 63). Adam has no emotional attachment to Cain, only the desire to understand how it (Cain) works. Adam and Eve’s polarizing reactions to Cain only further assert Twain’s essentialist perspective, that there are inherent differences between these two beings. Although Twain makes these distinctions between the pair, he never identifies certain traits as better than others. He simply identifies these traits, noting that they exist. And although it appears as though Eve is more positively represented throughout the entirety of The Complete Diaries of Adam and Eve, Twain ends by reinforcing his point that there are inherent differences between man and woman, and that ultimately both genders are equally important. Eve’s final diary entry reads, “for he is strong, I am weak, I am not so necessary to him as he is to me—

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life without him would not be life; how could I endure it?” (Twain 197). In the end, Eve values Adam’s differences and believes these traits are what make him so necessary to her. In Eve’s last words, Twain solidifies his essentialist perspective, as after the Fall, Eve writes, “I think I love him merely because he is mine and is masculine” (Twain 193). Although gender characteristics may be essential, Twain rejects the idea that female gender characteristics should be interpreted as negative or lesser. The impact that 19th and 20th century feminism had on Twain’s life and writing is particularly evident in Twain’s retelling of the creation story in The Complete Diaries of Adam and Eve. Eve discovering fire, the role of naming, Eve’s grammar awareness, and Eve’s free expression all illustrate Twain’s feminist and essentialist beliefs. It is Twain’s clear distinction between Adam and Eve’s defining characteristics that sets the stage for Twain’s essentialist perspective that men and women are different; still, he seems to reason that there is no true hierarchy of gender.

Works Cited Ayuningtyas, Paramita. “Gender Ideology in the

Diary of Adam and Eve by Mark Twain.” Humaniora, vol. 2, no. 1, 2011, pp. 368-73.

Cantor, Rebecca. “Hierarchical Naming in Milton’s Paradise Lost and Twain’s Diaries of Adam and Eve.” A Journal of Onomastics, vol. 60, no. 2, 2012, pp. 65-73.

Gianoulis, Tina. “Women’s Suffrage Movement.” GLBTQ, 2015.

Miller, Joe C. “Never a Fight of Woman Against Man: What Textbooks Don’t Say about Women’s Suffrage.” The History Teacher, vol. 48, no. 3, 2015, pp. 437-482.

O’Driscoll, Sally. “Ways to Think About Gender.” Progressive Culture Works GENDERPLEX Project, 1995, www.users.clas.ufl.edu/kristinjoos/fall00/ syg2430/genderarticle.htm.

Smith-Rosenberg, Carol. “The Hysterical Woman: Sex Roles and Role Conflict in 19th Century America.” Social Research, vol. 39, no. 4, 1972, pp. 652-678.

Twain, Mark. The Complete Diaries of Adam and Eve. Coyote Canyon Press, 2010.

Twain, Mark. “Votes for Women.” Annual Meeting of the Hebrew Technical School for Girls, 20 Jan. 1901, Manhattan, NY. Address.

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GENDER IDEOLOGY IN THE DIARY OF ADAM AND EVE BY MARK TWAIN

Paramita Ayuningtyas

Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Bahasa dan Budaya, Bina Nusantara University Jln. Kemanggisan Ilir III No. 45, Palmerah, Jakarta Barat 11480

ABSTRACT

This article aims to show that behind the new version of Genesis by Mark Twain in his novel The Diary of Adam and Eve, there are some patriarchal principles that appear in it. It can be seen from the characterizations of Adam and Eve. By using some concepts from feminism and also focusing on the context of the novel, the analysis shows that patriarchal stereotypes about gender are applied in constructing the characters of Adam and Eve. Not only the content, but the form of the diary is also analyzed with the same method, and the same result is found. Therefore, it can be concluded that in spite of his progressiveness, Mark Twain still held patriarchal values in re-interpreting the tale of human creation. Keywords: gender, stereotypes, feminism, femininity, masculinity

ABSTRAK

Artikel menjelaskan pembelajaran yang ada di belakang Kitab Kejadian, yang ditulis oleh Mark Twain dalam novel yang berjudul The Diary of Adam and Eve. Novel tersebut menunjukkan adanya prinsip patriarki yang terlihat dari karakter Adam dan Eva. Dengan menggunakan konsep Feminisme dan berfokus pada konteks novel akan terlihat penerapan strereotip patriarki yang terkait dengan gender di dalam penokohan Adam dan Hawa. Tidak hanya konten, tetapi bentuk diary juga dianalisis dengan metode yang sama dan menghasilkan hasil yang sama pula. Disimpulkan, di samping progessiveness, mark Twain juga masih memegang prinsip patriarki dalam menginterpretasi kembali cerita ciptaan manusia. Kata kunci: gender, stereotip, feminisme, feminimiti, maskuliniti

Gender Ideology ….. (Paramita Ayuningtyas) 369 

INTRODUCTION

Probably Genesis is a story that can never be replaced even though ages come and go and canonic religions have been substituted by other ‘religions’. Besides revealing the creation of Adam and Eve. Genesis also tells about the fall of men caused by Satan who changes himself into a snake. The snake successfully seduces Eve to eat the forbidden fruit from ‘The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil’. Inspired from that story, Mark Twain wrote The Diary of Adam and Eve, or known as Siti Hawa in Islam. In The Diary of Adam and Eve, readers are taken to see the tale of creation through Adam and Eve’s points of view embodied in a form of diary. This re-interpretation of Genesis is the most engaging aspect in this novel and triggers some questions as well: how did Mark Twain re- present Adam and Eve?, and What kind of gender ideology that can be decoded from the representation?

METHODS

By conducting a study on characterizations and relating it with the context of the novel, the writer is going to answer those above research questions. The primary data that will be used is Extract from Adam’s Diary and Eve’s Diary. Actually, The Diary of Adam and Eve published by Hesperus is a compilation that also includes other parts, such as That Day in Eden and Adam’s Soliloquy. However, I will only focus on Extract from Adam’s Diary and Eve’s Diary because both were published in 1906, while other parts were published years after.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

Eve’s Characterization

In traditional discourse of Western Christianity, the figure of Eve has become an epitome of a sinful woman (Budianta, 1998: 6). Eve, who ate the forbidden fruit, is blamed for the fall of human kinds. How is Eve, often labeled as seductress, portrayed by Mark Twain? From her diary, Eve is depicted as a thinker. It can be observed from her philosophical and critical writings. One of the examples is from her first inscription when she’s still one-day old:

For I feel like an experiment, I feel exactly like an experiment; it would be impossible for a person to feel more like an experiment than I do, and so I am coming to feel convinced that that is what I am – an experiment; just an experiment, and nothing more.

Then if I am an experiment, am I the whole of it? No, I think not. I think the rest of it is a part of it. I am the main part of it, but I think the rest of it has its share in the matter. (Twain, 2002: 21).

The quotation above shows how Eve really contemplates on where she comes from and what is the purpose of her creation. She tries to understand her own existence. Eve is also described as an intelligent human. Eve’s mind potential is emphasized by Twain through Eve’s actions. Eve likes to name creatures or things that she has just found. This cleverness of hers is also noted in Adam’s diary: The new creature names everything that comes along … (5). Naming does not necessarily mean giving labels to things, yet behind the process there is a performance of power and control (Prabasmoro, 2006: 273). By naming new things, Eve implicitly

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takes control in forming their views on the world. Eve’s smartness is also seen in her grammar knowledge. When discovering that Adam is a man, she tries to find a precise pronoun for Adam: nominative, he; dative, him; positive, his’n (25). She soon learns that Adam is a human like her. With her intelligence, Twain portrayed Eve as a woman far from the ‘silenced’ position because she likes to talk much: … for I love to talk; I talk all day, and in my sleep, too … (Twain: 2002). She also discovers fire, an important element in human’s life. Eve’s characterization by Twain shakes the gender construction of patriarchal society about femininity traits. In traditional society with patriarchal norms, activity is considered as a masculine characteristic, supposedly owned by men. However, in The Diary of Adam and Eve, this characteristic belongs to Eve, through her act of naming and expressing what is on her mind. In term of intellectuality, Eve’s characterization tears down the myth that women are ‘unable to work requiring muscular or intellectual development’. This effort to pull down the patriarchal gender construction signifies that Twain realized that femininity and masculinity are socially constructed and because of that, there is always a possibility to reconstruct and deconstruct it. In this case, it is done through woman representation in fictions. Even so, further analysis shows that the depiction of Eve is in an ambiguous area. In Eve’s characterization, Twain also highlighted some qualities that ‘naturally’ belong to women. For instance, Eve admits that she loves beauty: … but I already begin to realise that the core and centre of my nature is love of the beautiful (22). The use of words ‘core’, ‘centre’ and ‘nature’ strengthens essentialism concepts that woman have several natural traits since the day that they were born. Eve’s love to beauty is considered as a part of nature in The Diary of Adam and Eve, and it is in contrast with Adam’s pragmatic attitude. The concept of essentialism also appears in Eve’s relationship with Adam. Eve states that she cannot live by herself because ‘I was made for it’ (35); therefore, she always wants to be with Adam. Eve, who at first thinks philosophically about her existence, now positions herself only as a creature to accompany Adam. Prabasmoro (2006: 306) wrote that women are often constructed as creatures desperately longing for love. It can be seen from how Eve keeps trying to get close to Adam just because she realizes that she was made for it. She is in love with Adam since Adam looks so masculine, and she does not care if Adam treats him badly: At bottom he is good, and I love him for that. If he should beat me and abuse me, I should go on loving him (39). She feels that she cannot live without Adam. So, no matter what happens (even though it tortures her), she will keep loving Adam. For Eve, her life without Adam ‘would not be life’. This can be read as: women’s existence means nothing without men’s existence. This condition can also be observed in ‘Eve’s Diary’ that has to be interrupted by one entry from Adam’s diary that talks about Eve’s body Eve’s desire to be with Adam all the time leads to her effort to be approved by the first man. When realizing that she just discovers fire, the first thing that flashes in her mind is she has to tell Adam to gain his admiration: … [I] was going to run and find him and tell him about it, thinking to raise myself in his esteem … (30). A week after her creation, Eve’s craving to be respected by Adam is already strong: … and I study to be useful to him in every way I can, so as to increase his regard (25). It indicates that Eve feels inferior in front of Adam so she needs to gain respect from him. Another ambiguity can also be found in the naming act done by Eve. Even though she looks active in it, this naming process actually has another purpose, which is to avoid Adam from getting embarrassed (or for men’s sake). It can be concluded from this next passage:

He can’t think of a rational name to save him, but I do not let him see that I am aware of his defect. Whenever a new creature comes along I name it before he has time to expose himself by an awkward silence. In this way I have saved him many embarrassments (25).

Gender Ideology ….. (Paramita Ayuningtyas) 371 

What Eve thinks about is to save Adam from embarrassment. Her activity is still dedicated to Adam. Power relation still takes a part in Adam and Eve’s relationship, and it can be seen in the way she thinks and in how she should act in front of Adam.

The stereotype that women are emotional can be witnessed in Eve’s diary. In her writings, she expresses her feelings much. Sentences that show her emotion, such as ‘I am happy’, ‘I am content’ or ‘I tried to hide my disappointment’ often appear. The binary opposition of controlled/emotional is used in constructing Eve as a character. The plot then reveals that Eve’s caring personality leads to the fall of men. Compared to Adam who acts carefully towards animals, Eve tries to be as friendly as possible to animals, including snakes (‘She has taken up with a snake now’). Consequently, Eve’s closeness with the snake, which is Satan’s disguise, causes her to eat the forbidden fruit. In other words, women’s loving attitude will lead to something negative and even destructive.

Adam’s Characterization

As the first human, Adam is used to living alone, so when he meets Eve who keeps following

her, Adam feels annoyed: It is always hanging around and following me about. I don’t like this; I am not used to company (5). He also thinks that the pronoun ‘we’ that Eve uses to refer to both of them is irritating. Eve desires to be with Adam, but Adam doesn’t really care about her existence. He even tries to avoid Eve. This characteristic of Adam supports the masculinity of him, which is independence (Chafetz, ibid.). From Adam’s diary that tends to be descriptive, it can be concluded that he depends on his sight more than his emotion. Next quotations are from Adam’s diary: Cloudy today, wind in the east (5). Good deal of fog in the morning (6). If we compare it with Eve’s writings (that are full of emotion), Adam mostly writes about what he witnesses. He rarely shows his emotion, even in his personal diary. As told in the analysis of Eve’s characterization, the binary opposition of controlled/emotional still holds a role in their characterizations. Adam is described as a practical man – a character labeled as masculine. He judges things in paradise based on their usefulness. In Eve’s eyes, Adam only thinks about the usage of things and forgets about beauty: He would ask what it was good for … (30). Again, Adam’s character is in contrast with Eve’s, who ‘naturally’ loves beauty. What Eve does every day is admiring the prettiness of paradise, while Adam ponders on how to build a shelter from rain. Different from Eve who uses her sight only for the sake of visual joy, Adam uses his to look for valuable things. That difference walks along with the binary opposition of culture/nature that puts men as cultured human beings. In this novel, Adam who manages objects around him shows this ‘cultured’ trait. Different from Eve, it takes longer time for Adam to realize that Eve is also a human. At first, he only calls Eve as ‘creature’ or ‘it’, and only when Eve tells him, Adam starts to use pronoun ‘she’ to refer to her. Here, it can be seen that Adam is portrayed not as a smart creature. Another example that shows Adam’s stupidity is when he just notices that Cain (and also Abel) is a boy ten years after he’s born. He does not even know where Cain comes from: We have named it Cain. She caught it while I was up-country trapping on the north shore of the Eerie (12, underlined by me). Adam speculates that Cain is an animal captured by Eve. He does not even realize that Cain is his and Eve’s child. In other words, Adam does not notice the reproductive function of his body. Adam’s characterization tends to be stereotypical with his masculine traits. However, his lack of intellectuality reduces the image of ideal man of him. Besides that, his ignorance of his sexual

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potential creates the depiction that Adam is not sexually aggressive. Nevertheless, this ‘un-masculine’ side of Adam does not lead to something negative; in fact, it makes him look more innocent. The plot also still shows that Adam is not blamed even though he has eaten the fruit. He believes that eating the apple is against the principle. It can be said that Adam still has the consciousness to differ between the right and the wrong. Gender Ideology After analyzing the image of Adam and Eve, next I am going to study further about gender ideology behind The Diary of Adam and Eve by seeing the context when it was written. Through Eve, it can be seen how Twain made an effort to break the gender boundary by giving some ‘masculine’ traits to her. She is depicted as a woman who has the brain and the voice. However, it does not mean that this new interpretation is clean from patriarchal values that reduce women with feminine attributes (that are considered inferior). All of Eve’s potentials are used for Adam’s sake. She also tries to gain respect from Adam, which directly means she considers Adam as someone superior. I read this as the representation of women whose existence needs an approval from men. Compared with Eve’s ambiguous and complex characterization, Adam looks stereotypically masculine from his independent, pragmatic and cold attitude. The Diary of Adam and Eve has given a new version of the figures of Adam and Eve, but Twain’s description about the two characters is still not free from patriarchal values that put men on the top of the hierarchy. It is related with the social order when the novel was written. As written by Budianta, literature also constructs, deconstructs and reconstructs ideology (Budianta, 1998: 8). To paraphrase, a work of literature cannot be taken from its social context. In sociology of literature, sometimes an author (consciously or not) cannot be independent from the values of society in which he/she lives. Based on that statement, I am going to see how social context takes a part in constructing the characters of Adam and Eve. Twain started writing Extract from Adam’s Diary in 1893 and Eve’s Diary in 1903. During the era, the conservative Victorian values still existed in English society and in American society as well, although in different levels. Even though in early 20th century women were already allowed to go to college and to work outside, gender discrimination still could be found in society. Women (and also children) had to work for twelve hours in factories with a bad condition. In law, rules made by men still placed women in the inferior position. Women were allowed to vote in 1920, years and years after the independence of America. This gender injustice could exist because of patriarchal norms that consider men more competent than women in every aspect of life. In traditional societies, men are the breadwinners, while women take care of the house and the children. This role division is based on the popular opinion that men are more active and stronger so that they can manage the public life, while women with all of their weaknesses are spatially limited in their domestic world. This division also appears in The Diary of Adam and Eve, especially when Adam and Eve fall from paradise. As a man, Adam does his task as a breadwinner by hunting. Eve who confesses as Adam’s wife (even though Adam never says that he is Eve’s husband) does her domestic chores, to babysit Cain and Abel. In textual level, the world of Adam and Eve should have been clean from patriarchal-minded society, yet this sex-based role division is already there. In other words, Twain still believed that as something natural and it does not need any reconstruction or deconstruction. Besides the content, the form of the diary can also be analyzed to find the patriarchal gender ideology behind it. In Adam’s diary, there are four passages about the downfall of humankind from paradise, including the event when Eve eats the fruit. It is when they finally realize their nudity and start to feel awkward in front of each other:

Gender Ideology ….. (Paramita Ayuningtyas) 373 

She came curtained in boughs and bunches of leaves, and when I asked her what she meant by such nonsense, and snatched them away and threw them down, she tittered and blushed … she said I would soon know how it was myself (11).

However, in Eve’s diary, Twain inserted only one passage about the fall, which is when the snake teases Eve to taste the fruit. After her writing about her desire to be with Adam, Eve’s diary immediately moves to ‘after the fall’ parts. Eve isn’t given the chance to deliver her own version about the fall. The readers cannot see this monumental event from Eve’s point of view because this event is only shaped and delivered by Adam’s writings. If we see the context when the novel was being written, women in USA still did not acquire the right to voice their opinions on political issues (or issues related to power). Twain did not give the chance and the voice to Eve to tell the readers about what actually happens through her eyes. Yet Twain gave the right to Satan to talk in ‘That Day in Eden (passage from Satan’s Diary) which tells about how Satan tries to tease Eve.

CONCLUSIONS

Mark Twain has been dubbed as a progressive author in his era due to his bravery in touching racial issues in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884). This progressive thought ‘tries’ to appear too in his interpretation of Adam and Eve’s tales. Nevertheless, it does not mean Twain can be totally boundless from the social construction about gender relationships. The characterization of Eve still obeys the essentialism concept that views femininity as a part of nature, and the characterization of Adam is still traditionally masculine. Then, the suppression of women’s voice and sex-based role division still can be seen in the text. The patriarchal gender ideology that treats men as the centre of the society still appears in Twain’s reinterpretation. Even though the ending of Adam and Eve’s diary suggests that both of them (men and women) can live happily ever after, the analysis shows that the effort to reach the harmonious life is still corrupted by gender bias and injustice.

REFERENCES Budianta, M. (1998). Sastra dan Ideologi Gender, Horison Vol XXXII/4. Prabasmoro, A P. (2006). Kajian Budaya Feminis: Tubuh, Sastra dan Budaya Pop. Yogyakarta: Jala

Sutra. Twain, M. (2002). The Diary of Adam and Eve. London: Hesperus.