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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 



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

Aisthesis      Volume 8,  201727

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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Aisthesis      Volume 8,  201728

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 



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

Aisthesis      Volume 8,  201729

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—



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

Aisthesis      Volume 8,  201730

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.


