The Diaries of Adam & Eve Background

The Diaries of Adam & Eve Background

The Diaries of Adam & Eve were, at first, two separate short stories written by American author, Mark Twain. The first one, Adam's Diary, was first published in 1893 and the second one, Eve's Diary, in 1906. The two tales were reunited in diptych-like form as one book for later editions. Written with humor, The Diaries of Adam & Eve revisits the first chapters of the notorious Genesis which tells the story of the origins of humanity. Twain dives into the psychologies of Adam and Eve, giving his own spin to their depiction. It is believed that the character of Adam is based on Twain himself and that Eve was modeled after his wife, Olivia, who died a short time before he wrote Eve's Diary.

The book can be considered both a comical and philosophical tale, which rises questions with elegance of style on both subjects of society and morality. Moreover, it shows the relationship between the two main characters who are depicted with the primitivism of the original ones. Here, Adam only aspires to idle tranquility up until he is introduced to Eve, which he first sees as a creature with long hair he has to adapt to living with. Eve is shown as curious to the workings of the world around her, too talkative for Adam's taste which deeply annoys him before he eventually falls in love with her.

The Diaries of Adam & Eve follows the journey of Adam and Eve in discovering the world around them, but more importantly, each other. Nowadays, the characters and their encounter may seem stereotyped, but it doesn't take away from an endearing, truly human story.

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