"Lilith" is a work
in dialogue and poetic form that seeks to explore meaningful issues in
contemporary Western society, utilizing the ancient myth of Lilith, Adam's
first wife. Through Lilith's relationship with the serpent, it explores the
nature of platonic love and friendship; through the relationships between
Lilith and Adam, and then Adam and Eve, it explores the nature of sensual
love. In Lilith's unconditional dedication to the amendment of harm she may
have caused, it seeks to explore the nature of forgiveness. "Lilith" also
questions contemporary cultural colorations of ancient symbols, through the
character of the serpent, arguing that much is lost from our quest for
understanding when we disregard our heritage in favor of cultural perceptions
of beauty and power.
The relationship between
Adam and Lilith fails because Lilith wishes to preface physical intimacy
with emotional intimacy, while Adam perceives that physical intimacy is
prerequisite for emotional intimacy. The pondering of emotional vs. physical
intimacy is the subject of many books and essays in our society, in which
noted psychologists and sociologists regard the breakdown of emotional intimacy
as the underlying cause of the breakdown of the family. Lilith's relationship
with the serpent fails because adversity can indeed produce effects in our
most purely intentioned actions. Nonetheless, the stature of the serpent
is restored and continues to exist today, in our use of the serpent as the
symbol for healing in the caduceus, the international symbol of the medical
profession, and in Europe as the symbol denoting the location of a
pharmacy.
These themes
are highly relevant in contemporary Western society. In "Lilith," they are
presented in an allegorical setting that contains both familiar and unfamiliar
elements. It is my hope that this combination of the familiar and the unfamiliar
will let the reader see and ponder anew what he or she once dismissed as
known and understood, and thus to embark on a private journey of introspection
and new understandings of familiar issues.
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