# Eve — Two Treatises of Government character guide

> Eve in Two Treatises of Government by John Locke.

**Role:** supporting

**First appearance:** 0007-v-of-adam-s-title-to-sovereignty-by-the-subjection-of-eve

## Snapshot

The first wife in Scripture, whose sentence of desire and subjection Locke rescues from being stretched into a charter for kings.

## Who they are

Eve enters the argument as the proof-text Sir Robert Filmer cannot do without: if her subjection to Adam were the original grant of government, every husband would be a monarch. Locke presses the distinction between conjugal and political power, insisting that a wife's deference in household matters is not a sovereign's power of life and death. Her case matters because it exposes how a single ambiguous verse about a marriage is being made to carry the weight of all earthly authority.

## Relationships

### [Adam](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters/adam)

_family_

Adam and Eve are the first human couple, with Eve created from Adam's rib, forming the foundational familial unit.

### [Jacob](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters/jacob)

_family_

Eve is the matriarch and distant ancestor of Jacob, linking the first woman to the patriarchal lineage.

### [Adam](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters/adam)

_family_

Adam and Eve are the first human couple, with Eve created from Adam's rib, forming the foundational familial unit.

### [Adam](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters/adam)

_family_

Adam and Eve are the first human couple, with Eve created from Adam's rib, forming the foundational familial unit.

## In the story

### [II: Of Paternal and Regal Power](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/chapters/ii-of-paternal-and-regal-power)

Eve is mentioned in the context of Filmer's argument that God gave Adam dominion over her, which Locke considers part of the insufficient proof for Adam's absolute power.

### [Of Adam's Title to Sovereignty by Creation](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/chapters/iii-of-adam-s-title-to-sovereignty-by-creation)

Mentioned in context of God's grant to Adam after her creation, challenging Filmer's timeline.

### [Of Adam’s Title to Sovereignty, by Donation, Gen. 1:28](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/chapters/iv-of-adam-s-title-to-sovereignty-by-donation-gen-1-28)

Locke notes that Eve was not yet created at the time of the Gen. 1:28 grant, further showing the grant was to the species, not Adam alone.

### [Of Adam’s Title to Sovereignty, by the Subjection of Eve](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/chapters/v-of-adam-s-title-to-sovereignty-by-the-subjection-of-eve)

Eve is the direct subject of the curse in Genesis 3:16, which Filmer misinterprets as a grant of political power to Adam.

### [VI: Of Paternal Power](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/chapters/vi-of-paternal-power)

Included with Adam as under obligation to preserve, nourish, and educate children.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters/eve
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters