My project was based on the following line in Paradise Lost: “...yet first, / Pausing a while, thus to herself she mused” (Milton 9.743-744). Here, she goes through a thought process where she considers eating the fruit and attempts to justify it. Of course, her logic is flawed due to her argument with Adam and temptation from Satan. When I was thinking about going about this, my first instinct was to make a video montage of different aspects of the garden. However, as I thought more in depth about it, I decided instead to make an audio representation of her thought process. The audio itself is chaotic, the sounds not quite fitting each other just right. This is intentional, as I interpreted Eve’s thoughts to manifest in a sort of frenzied manner. It also helps to symbolize the nature of the subject: the fall of man through the temptation of Satan.
The sound starts out with the sound of dripping water, echoing alone. This represents her mind before temptation. Then, the birds begin to come in, also echoing with the water. The chirping introduces the thoughts of inferiority placed by Adam, a small but significant aspect of the sound as a whole. The rain and thunder are layered next, the entrance of Satan’s temptation among Eve’s already clouded judgement. The rustling and snapping of the leaves that enter next is her contemplation of whether or not she should eat the fruit, and the final howling wind is meant to be an ominous symbol of her decision to follow through. This wind remains for a bit, but then one by one each sound begins to fade away, leaving only the echo of the water. This symbolizes that through temptation Eve has secured humanity’s fate. She has fallen.