Literary Criticism Of Eve Says
Salma Deera’s “Eve Says” is part of her poetry anthology published in 2015 entitled, “Letters from Medea. ” It explores heartbreak, loss and femininity by reincarnating Medea, a villain from Greek mythology, into the present day. The poems come off as letters from her to the modern girl struggling with herself and her heart. Deera’s poem, “Eve Says” stands out to me in particular because of the allusions she makes to Adam and Eve, biblical characters that lived in the Garden of Eden. In beginning of her poem, Deera portrays Eve as a victim of society and the consumerist culture that it forces upon women. She describes Eve as something that has been sold, a mere commodity for human consumption and entertainment. The line, “They sell her words like the slogan of a makeup ad,” is, in my opinion, a reference to the way society has pushed their often unattainable beauty standards upon women, thrust them into our unwilling hands, forcing us to comply with them. The consequences of not complying, obviously, would be ridicule and shame, as seen in the comments section of nearly any girl’s photo on Facebook. The littlest imperfection does not go unnoticed to the eagle eyes of online critics. She even goes so far as to call her “a pop princess with manufactured lyrics,” reflecting the way the media grooms and pampers women to appear as if they are perfect dolls for their manipulation and exploitation.
Further into the poem, Deera describes Eve as the pilot to a TV show about the discovery of man. I think that this is a reference to how women are often portrayed in films and literature as merely sidekicks or love interests to men. The term, “manic pixie dream girl” comes to mind. This is when women are portrayed as nothing more than a simple side character, made only for the (often male) protagonist’s character development and not a person with depth and complexity. This dynamic causes women’s voices to be lost in a din of hypermasculinity and toxic machismo. Deera writes that Eve is “trapped behind a TV screen,” which is a reference to how women are forced to conform to standards that are made popular on shows and movies. Women are trapped, chained to the image that Hollywood has created for them – commodities made for the male gaze. The line, “then Eve is arrested for a robbery gone wrong,” is, I think, an allusion to the biblical story that got them banished from the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3. The blame for getting ousted from paradise is often passed onto Eve for having been gullible enough to be tricked by the serpent. This perspective often erases Adam’s shortcomings from the narrative, and paints him to be a mere victim of Eve’s recklessness, when in fact, he knew that eating from the Forbidden Tree was wrong, and yet did not stop Eve. She may have been gullible, but he was complicit. This does not make him any better. In modern times, I think that this can be observed in publicized rape cases or sexual harassment cases. Women are burnt at the stake for outing their abusers, whom people believe to be “nice boys. ” Take for example the Stanford swimmer, Brock Turner, who only got six months of incarceration and three years of probation for raping an intoxicated and unconscious woman at a college party. The woman faced more backlash for having been violated, with people blaming her clothes and her drunkenness for the event that transpired. Her abuser may have been persecuted (and rather modestly, at that) by the court of law, but she was persecuted by the court of public opinion. This is not uncommon. Many people still tend to believe the rapist rather than the victim.
Even worse, many people still blame women for being victims of such cruel violations of dignity. The lines, “The faithful police give the Daily Mail a statement. / Tell them that Eve said: / ‘It was me. All my fault. I will take all the punishment you and God give me. ’” are a reference to how women’s testimonies are often twisted around so they no longer resemble their truths, reduced to a mere distorted reflection. In the poem, after being arrested, Eve is put into a soundproof room. This is a reference to how women’s voices are often silenced and left unheard, especially in more conservative countries like those in the Middle East. Women are treated as mere trophies to collect, another notch on the wall, and not as people with complex emotions and thoughts. The people watch as Eve struggles against these chains that impede her. And that is all they do. Watch. In the end, Eve cries – she does not say, she cries, the desperation finally getting to her – “Take back your rib. / I didn’t want it. I never did. It is weighing me down. ” This signifies her giving up the fight, how in the end, no matter how much you struggle, it doesn’t matter if people only watch from afar. She asks, even begs, Adam to take back his rib from which she was crafted. Eve’s existence in the poem is described as sad and pitiful, so it comes as no surprise that she would rather not have been created than to keep suffering under a patriarchal society. The poem is written by a woman, and this shows in the text.
There is no way that a man could have written the female experience with such depth and accuracy because men do not suffer the same way that women do. They do not face the same struggle, are not oppressed in the same way. In the text, a lot of Eve’s suffering is rooted in her relationship with Adam. She is blamed for the robbery, rather than the two of them facing persecution together, the same way women are blamed for being victims. It is a source of conflict between them, to the extent that Eve wishes she hadn’t even been made. The poem sheds light on the way women are treated in society – as commodities.
As objects. And not people. It casts a shadow on the seemingly progressive notion we have of women, proving it to be false and cracked underneath the surface. This view of women has affected generations upon generations of girls who have struggled against that chains of society. We have come a long way from the times when women were not even allowed to study. But still, we are not free. Perhaps our leashes have gotten longer, allowing us to explore further, but it still isn’t freedom. This is not liberation. We are never truly free until there is no longer a single girl that struggles against her oppressors. Sure, we may no longer be called witches and accused of being in league with the devil, but we are still treated with the same fear and anger. They may not bring pitchforks and clubs to our doors, but we are still persecuted, simply for being women. The witch hunt never truly ended for us.
