Eve to her Daughters : :
Judith Wright : : : : : : : :
It was not I who began it.
Turned out into draughty caves,
hungry so often, having to work for our bread,
hearing the children whining,
I was nevertheless not unhappy.
Where Adam went I was fairly contented to go.
I adapted myself to the punishment: it was my life.
But Adam, you know ….. !
He kept on brooding over the insult,
over the trick They had played on us, over the scolding.
He had discovered a flaw in himself
and he had to make up for it.
Outside Eden the earth was imperfect,
the seasons changed, the game was fleet-footed,
he had to work for our living, and he didn’t like it.
He even complained of my cooking
(it was hard to compete with Heaven).
So he set to work.
The earth must be made a new Eden
with central heating, domesticated animals,
mechanical harvesters, combustion engines,
escalators, refrigerators,
and modern means of communication
and multiplied opportunities for safe investment
and higher education for Abel and Cain
and the rest of the family.
You can see how his pride had been hurt.
In the process he had to unravel everything,
because he believed that mechanism
was the whole secret – he was always mechanical-minded.
He got to the very inside of the whole machine
exclaiming as he went, So that is how it works!
And now that I know how it works, why, I must have invented it.
As for God and the Other, they cannot be demonstrated,
And what cannot be demonstrated
doesn’t exist.
You see, he had always been jealous.
Yes, he got to the centre
where nothing at all can be demonstrated.
And clearly he doesn’t exist; but he refuses
to accept the conclusion.
You see, he was always an egotist.
It was warmer than this in the cave;
There was none of this fall-out.
I would suggest, for the sake of the children,
that it’s time you took over.
But you are my daughters, you inherit my own faults of character;
you are submissive, following Adam
even beyond existence.
Faults of character have their own logic
and it always works out.
I observed this with Abel and Cain.
Perhaps the whole elaborate fable
right from the beginning
is meant to demonstrate this; perhaps it’s the whole secret.
Perhaps nothing exists but our faults?
At least they can be demonstrated.
But it’s useless to make
such a suggestion to Adam.
He has turned himself into God,
who is faultless, and doesn’t exist.
“Eve To Her Daughters”, First published in The Other Half : Poems By Environmentalist Judith Wright , Sydney : Angus and Robertson, 1966 An Apocalypse Poem that is also an ‘Anti-War Poem’ and An ‘Earth Poem’, Also A ‘Feminist Poem’, is About Adam’s quest to become God-like, outlining his arrogance & About The Eve who is staying submissive and loyal despite his flaws. She is A Speaker of the poem who talks to her daughters , Of her and Adam’s Fall from Eden. : Whose fault in arogant pug head behaviour of Adam and in Submissiveness of Eve !? She has questioned. : : : :
“Eve to Her Daughters”,is a dramatic monologue which sees the Biblical Eve transported to a post-nuclear landscape where man has succeeded in destroying the Edenic paradise of the world as we know it. The word “fallout”: both the quarrel between husband and wife : Adam and Eve , and nuclear fallout from the war. : : : :
The idea of Adam and Eve residing in a cave comes from non-biblical works such as the Syriac Cave of Treasures and the Ethiopic Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan. These texts describe God commanding the expelled first couple to live in a specific “Cave of Treasures” after leaving Eden, where they face struggles and temptations.
Because this narrative is outside of the traditional biblical canon that inspired most prominent Renaissance and Old Master painters, fine art on the subject is rare.
First Stanza : : “It was not I who began it.
Turned out into draughty caves,
hungry so often, having to work for our bread,
hearing the children whining,
I was nevertheless not unhappy.
Where Adam went I was fairly contented to go.
I adapted myself to the punishment: it was my life.”
Eve declares abut her life that it was not her “who began it.”: A remark of mulling over ( ચિંતન મનન ) the lifetime she lived with Adam when Adam was responsible for the origin of ills and evilness in the World. An end-result happened in their ill-fitting life was a living in to “draughty caves”( પવનનાં સપાટા મારતી ગૂફા ) which were not ‘airtight’,and hollowed out underground that received cold air leaked from outside where they experienced hunger and had to work for their bread. She whined about the unfair life hearing the children’s screeching noise ( તીણા / કર્કશ અવાજ / ચીસો પાડતા ઘોંઘાટ ) with tearful ( રોતલ ) face. However, Eve was “fairly content” to follow Adam and adjusted to their punishment. Thus Eve poses in the beginning her, fairly happy and questionable submissive તાબે થયેલ / આજ્ઞાંકિત ) અભિગમ ) attitude.
Second Stanza : : “But Adam, you know ….. !
He kept on brooding over the insult,
over the trick They had played on us, over the scolding.
He had discovered a flaw in himself
and he had to make up for it.”
About dividing line ( વિભાજક રેખા ) between Adam and Eve ! A juxtaposition ( સમીપ ) that can lead to a contrast between Humans and God as well as Angels / demons. : Adam first started and continued to play a Godly figure in the Humanity ‘s insane quest ( ઉન્મત / અવિચારી ખોજ ) of changing the World in to A ‘New Eden’ but would have wandered from the correct path in which a “flaw ( અપૂર્ણતા / ખામી ) could be discovered and he had to make up for it.” : An undependable imperfections ( ન્યૂનતા ) in the object as well as in plans and activities adopted however the same should be great nonetheless. He had to be broody( ખિન્નતા ભર્યા વિચાર ) or seriously thoughtful to put everything in order or neaten up ( ઠાવકાઈથી સરસ રીતે વ્યવસ્થિત કરવા નું ) ( instead of continuously remaining resentful ( રીસ ચડાવવા ના બદલે / રોષે ભરાયાં વગર ) over the insult , trick or scolding .
Third Stanza : : ” Outside Eden the earth was imperfect,
the seasons changed, the game was fleet-footed,
he had to work for our living, and he didn’t like it.
He even complained of my cooking
(it was hard to compete with Heaven).”
About comparison of the Adam’s Earth and God’s Eden . Eden was perfect; Earth , imperfect because of change of seasons, Adam’s aversive feeling of hard working for living and his admonition about cooking by Eve found dissatisfactory by complaintive Adam. : “( It was hard to compete with Heaven).” said Eve.
Fourth Stanza : : ” So he set to work.
The earth must be made a new Eden
with central heating, domesticated animals,
mechanical harvesters, combustion engines,
escalators, refrigerators,
and modern means of communication
and multiplied opportunities for safe investment
and higher education for Abel and Cain
and the rest of the family.
You can see how his pride had been hurt.”
About Adam’s Efforts in making New Eden.: ” So he ( Adam ) set to work , With cental heating, domesticated animals,
mechanical harvesters, combustion engines,
escalators, refrigerators, and modern means of communication and multiplied opportunities for safe investment and higher education for Abel and Cain and the rest of the family.” : Since then Humanity has never stopped for working without any rest and has brought All Kinds Of Comforts in All realms of life with praiseworthy glory. The Long Story of Mankind ‘s Success. : : : : : : The Third and Fourth Stanzas are About connecting Genesis / Biblical Past to the Modern -day World and explains how Adam’s pride was hurt because of constant vexation ચીડ / ખીજવાટ / સંતાપ ) at their expelling from the Garden of Eden and the hardships to face everyday since their living in a Cave of Treasure.
Fifth Stanza : : In the process he had to unravel everything,
because he believed that mechanism
was the whole secret – he was always mechanical-minded.
He got to the very inside of the whole machine
exclaiming as he went, So that is how it works!
And now that I know how it works, why, I must have invented it.
As for God and the Other, they cannot be demonstrated,
And what cannot be demonstrated
doesn’t exist.
You see, he had always been jealous.
About unraveling / ઉકેલ લાવનારી ગૂંચ કાઢનાર ( removing everything possibly from their tangled state of living a life with hardships ) , the unique crucial and demonstrable technical mechanism for inventing the machines that would aid in the Human Development and Comforts. : : : : : : : : “he was always mechanical-minded.” ( line 30 )
“He got to the very inside of the whole machine.”
…
“He started understanding how the machine works and then made more and more machines.”
“As for God and the Other, they cannot be demonstrated, ( line 35 )
And “what cannot be demonstrated
doesn’t exist.” : : The chase and an effort to overtake Godly Providence in the aforesaid competition in making New Eden on the earth and searching for required knowledge to establish an uplifted Human Society were the History of the Patriarchal society wherein Adam -like figure or a Grandfather -like figure always commanded as they were older or higher in rank. : : ” You see, he had always been jealous.” : Said Eve. Adam was self centred and always thought of himself. He didn’t bother of Eve and didn’t consider the needs of others. He was always watchful of creating Eden on the Earth and therefore was always in competition with Godly Providence in the Eden which posed him looked jealous. This was explained in the Sixth Stanza as Herein below. : : : :
Sixth Stanza : : Yes, he got to the centre
where nothing at all can be demonstrated.
And clearly he doesn’t exist; but he refuses
to accept the conclusion.
You see, he was always an egotist.” : : : :
Seventh Stanza : : “It was warmer than this in the cave;
There was none of this fall-out.
I would suggest, for the sake of the children,
that it’s time you took over.”
Eighth Stanza : : “But you are my daughters, you inherit my own faults of character;
you are submissive, following Adam
even beyond existence.
Faults of character have their own logic
and it always works out.
I observed this with Abel and Cain.” : : : : : : About Eves conversation now started from here. Eve said that in the cave, they had none of these fallouts that they now have, and life was simpler. Her daughters would inherit her flaws because they too tend to follow in the footsteps of their respective Adams they would meet and would be expected with submissive behaviour. Through Eve’s daughters Abel and Cain the generational inheritance of gender role , inherited traits, and the cycles in society could be explored. It should be for women to take over the world since the men might be failing due to their egotistical characteristics of having an inflated ideas of superiority over women and their own importance and and limitations of such manly behaviour.
Ninth Stanza : : ” Perhaps the whole elaborate fable
right from the beginning
is meant to demonstrate this; perhaps it’s the whole secret.
Perhaps nothing exists but our faults?
At least they can be demonstrated.”
Tenth Stanza : : “But it’s useless to make
such a suggestion to Adam.
He has turned himself into God,
who is faultless, and doesn’t exist.”
About Eve’s long thoughtful observations and calm intent consideration. The thinking that the entire fable has been presented to prove their faults and only their faults can be proven. Are the human faults could be an essence of existence or the core secret of life? Such suggestion and finding would perhaps be inevitably futile to Adam -like figures who have already proclaimed Godlike and posed himself beyond flaws. Adam would deny the existence of his own imperfections and the limitations of patriarchate nature of societal norms and tracing through the male line.
Judith Wright’s Earth Poem, ” Eve’s Daughters” depicts man’s destructive nature and the Earth in pursuit of God-like perfection in Eden. In his arrogance, man has yet not proved himself as the creator, What he strives to create for Earth to be a paradise ultimately not desirable. Wright’s poem is Eve’s manifesto to Feminists Not To be “Submissive” to Adam. The Scientific Advancements and the Mechanisation of Society would be far from The Human Faith and A Wider Target Requiring Caution !
A post-apocalyptic Eve warns her daughters about the dangers of male arrogance, scientific hubris, and submission. The poem critiques modern society by reinterpreting the biblical story, portraying Eve as a figure of wisdom who blames Adam for their fall and encourages her daughters to seek balance beyond male-driven scientific and materialist advancement.
Eve is traditionally blamed for the “fall”. But Judith Wright’s Eve is not to blame, but rather a victim of Adam’s desire to “unravel everything” and become God-like. This shifts the responsibility for the world’s destruction away from Eve and onto male ego and scientific hubris ( overbearing pride and presumption ) that might lead him to take risky decisions which ultimately harm the people of all nationality of the World.
The poem uses the biblical “fall” and the resulting “fallout” as a metaphor for modern environmental and social destruction caused by scientific advancement. Eve’s conversation is a warning to her daughters to not be submissive to men who have become so engrossed in mechanical, rational thought that they believe they have invented everything and that anything that cannot be “demonstrated” doesn’t exist.
Eve encourages her daughters to take over and help men see that God can still exist in a world driven by science. The poem suggests that while women may have inherited their own “faults” from Eve, they must be the ones to lead the way in finding a more balanced and spiritual (!?) existence, one that doesn’t disregard the intangible and the spiritual in favor of tangible, demonstrable facts.
The poem uses Adam as a metonym for modern Western society ( પશ્વિમ નો વિપર્યય ) especially Australia, which Wright suggests has become prideful in its belief that its ideals and methods are superior. By extending the story of the fall to a modern, post-nuclear landscape, Wright directly criticizes the “Western foundations” that have led to destruction and environmental disregard. One may lead the same thoughtful observations in view of India.
: : : :
A submissive woman being spanked on her bare buttocks by a dominant man. Illustration by N. Carman (1931)
Female submission or femsub is an activity or relationship in which a woman submits to the direction of a partner or has her body used for the ( sexual pleasure ) of her partner. Submissiveness in healthy relationships is mutual with empowering choice. ( Both partners respect, uplift, and serve each other; A woman uses strength and wisdom for influence. : it’s not about one person being superior whereas in unhealthy ones, it’s a symptom of control and imbalance. ) An Unhealthy submissiveness means forced compliance, silencing needs, and vulnerability, often rooted in fear or coercion, leading to one-sided sacrifice and potential exploitation where a partner’s happiness is prioritised by both. Healthy Submissiveness means Empowerment : It is strength under control, a wise choice to yield, not weakness, allowing influence through gentleness and peace. Both partners respect, uplift, and serve each other. A woman trusts her partner to lead, finding security in his strength, allowing her to explore vulnerability.
An importance is recognised in communicating needs, and willing compromise, not just silence or suffering. An Unhealthy Submissiveness of
Forced Compliance ( lacking genuine choice ) leads to decision-making dominance by one partner And it Involves sacrificing personal needs, values, and thoughts due to fear or pressure. All these lead a woman to more vulnerable to exploitation, as she may ignore discomfort or danger.
Key Distinctions & Perspectives . submissiveness is a learned behavior from societal norms ( like Victorian ideals ) or
In some religious views, it’s seen as a spiritual choice to honor a husband, requiring trust in God and yielding authority. At times, the women find fulfillment in yielding, seeking a strong partner to provide structure, safety, and direction. Biblical submission in marriage is a wife with the strength of character making a choice not to overtly resist her husband’s will. She can disagree with him or she can express her opinion. : A Submissive woman remaining still won’t look at her partner especially when being stared at. The Gestures can go so far as to include kneeling or bowing. In Bible, Sarah , Abraham’s wife has been iconized as the example of a godly, submissive wife, especially in the face of abusive behavior. Abigail’s actions in 1 Samuel 25, we see that her motivation was to show respect and submission to her husband while also fulfilling the role ; more about harmony, compromise, or even a deep sense of care. Many times, She submits for the same reason a man submits: attraction, love, desire.
The poem uses a free verse, storytelling effect to convey its message clearly. It moves fluidly through the narrative, highlighting Adam’s prideful and egoistic character in a way that invites the reader to reflect on their own social and cultural context. Let us know Dear Reader Your Perspectives in this.. . : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : Eve to Her Daughters By Judith Wright : : Earth Poems : Poem Analysis and Appreciation Presented By V Jayaraj Pune India February 21 , 2023 : : Updated November 30, 2025 : : On Achieving the Fifth Anniversary of his Art Blog Madhu Malti.
MADHU MALTI 