The Judgment of Eve

by May Sinclair

Excerpt from The Judgment of Eve

Mt. Gatty, or Mr. Hurst, or for all three of them together, Aggie was unable toexplain to her own satisfaction or her mother's.

154 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1907

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

May Sinclair was the pseudonym of Mary Amelia St. Clair, a popular British writer who wrote about two dozen novels, short stories and poetry. She was an active suffragist, and member of the Woman Writers' Suffrage League. May Sinclair was also a significant critic, in the area of modernist poetry and prose and she is attributed with first using the term stream of consciousness) in a literary context, when reviewing the first volumes of Dorothy Richardson's novel sequence Pilgrimage (1915–67), in The Egoist, April 1918.

Reviews

[Kirsty · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Judgment of Eve is the shortest Sinclair book yet in my reading of her entire bibliography. The author sets the scene wonderfully, and introduces the reader at once to protagonist, Aggie. Aggie herself is well-educated, but in true Edwardian fashion, the first quarter of the plot deals with which of her two suitors she will choose to marry. She is rather a progressive woman, willing to work if her fiance's salary fails to rise as he has been promised. Sinclair's prose is shrewd, as ever: 'Nature, safeguarding her own interests, had whispered to Aggie that young ladies who live in Queningford are better without intellects that show'.

After a move to London, the intellect which Aggie prizes above all else disappears once one child after another is born. Our protagonist rises to the challenge of motherhood, but Sinclair makes us aware that it - and the never-ending domesticity which comes with it - is far from a perfect life for Aggie: 'It was as if Nature had conceived a grudge against Aggie, and strove, through maternity, to stamp out her features as an individual'. Sinclair paints the role of the traditional Angel in the House in a very interesting light, essentially turning it on its head.

The Judgment of Eve is a short book, but it unquestionably has a lot of depth to it, and both asks and answers a plethora of question about womankind and their place within the world. Had it not been so brief, I would have definitely given it a five-star rating; regardless, it deserves to be read by a far wider audience.

[Eve Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Painful and sad, really short but cuts into the life of Aggie. She chooses her man and has a whole lotta babies. I'm not sure she changes throughout the book, you just learn more about her so you get an idea that she is how she is. It's an interesting look into people's choices and how they spend their time and life. It was also pretty sad her husband didn't let her work. Although, I don't think she would have worked for long, you know coz all the babies.

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful short novel about how men are selfish and women can deceive themselves. That's it, really. Painful but so real, and beautifully written.

[Lesley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sinclair is always worth reading, but this, like Hardy's Jude the Obscure, is one of those stories where one feels that knowledge of, and availability of reliable, contraception would have stopped there being a story in the first place.