Hi! Hope you can give me some feedback on this essay I have written.
Topic: All About Eve is concerned with the consequences of obsession with fame at all costs.
Set against the backdrop of the “Golden Age of Hollywood”, Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s All About Eve, explores the deceitful actions taken by those blinded by unbridled ambition to reach the limelight in pursuit of fame and adulation. Mankiewicz presents Eve as a compulsive liar who rose to eminence in the show business by embodying a lie in order to gradually become a ‘carbon copy’ of her idol, Margo Channing. Furthermore, her apathetic disregard for friendships built upon loyalty and trust presents her willingness to take advantage of those who have done favours for her. Due to Eve’s single pathological preoccupation with stardom, her final victory is hollow and she is left with a lack of companions, trapped under the control of Addison and vulnerable to those desperate to take her place. Mankiewicz critiques the obsession of fame and the flaws it can beset on human ambition through the portrayal of the desperate and deceitful psyche of Eve.
Eve adopts an off-stage, fabricated persona to befriend Margo and involve herself in her affairs with the intention of usurping her in order to attain fame. Eve presents herself as a helpless ingenue as she recounts her apocryphal past to Margo, Karen and Lloyd like delivering a scripted dialogue which they all instantly believe. The mise en scene was designed in such a way to position Eve under a lamp that made her look like she’s under a spotlight and the rest of the characters looking up at her as if watching a play. Furthermore, Eve’s sycophantic demeanour makes her seem naive and a “star-struck kid” with her calm and graceful tone of speech. When Eve’s male replica, Addison strips down all the manipulative tactics Eve has underwent to reach fame, she agonises how she “...had to say something, be somebody, make (Margo) like me!” This exemplifies her inclination to give up her identity in order to create a new one to present herself in such a way to appeal to the sympathy of others so that she can eventually make use of them. By embodying various lies, Eve is portrayed as not having a heart as Margo snidely remarks to her about putting her Sarah Siddons Award “where (her) heart ought to be” which further highlights the compulsive urge of Eve to lie and portray herself as something she is not. As proven in her success on the stage, Eve is a talented actress who uses this to change her mannerisms and portray herself as a”loose lamb in the jungle…” to win the pity of Margo and Karen. Through Eve, Mankiewicz demonstrates the cunning effort taken to aspire to the limelight which involved putting on an off-stage performance and essentially, living a lie.
As Eve’s true streaks of manipulation and deceit are revealed to Margo’s companions, the audience plays witness to a selfish being, with a sole and monomaniac obsession with her goal to rise to fame. Mankiewicz presents the sacrifice of moral ground by Eve as the audience members onlook the twisted, cunning pathways taken “just for a part in a play…” She is seen as a mate poacher who attempts to seduce Bill and Lloyd- both of whom are in committed relationships- for her own benefit to succeed in the theatre world. This further demonstrates her “inability to love and be loved” as well as her ruthless ambition, pushing her ethical boundaries as she is forced to commit socially incorrect actions such as being a marriage-wrecker. Furthermore when the audience is introduced to Eve, she is wearing a trenchcoat and hat making her look masculine. This can be connected to the scene when Eve and her female friend walk up the stairs in an embrace- symbolising a deal that involved a sexual compromise- which highlights Eve’s willingness to sleep with women; another socially frowned upon phenomenon in the 1950s. Additionally, in Eve’s entrance, she walks in and out of dark shadows which symbolise how one must plough through dark and unscrupulous paths in order to attain the glamour of the theatre, further demonstrating how fame in the form of “waves of love” makes “anything worth that…” A sense of ungratefulness is portrayed by Eve as she threatens Karen that she will expose Karen’s role in preventing Margo from attending the performance that Eve was able to use to rise to prominence- especially after the various favours Karen has done for Eve; from forming a friendship with her idol Margo to putting her as Margo’s understudy. Mankiewicz highlights the extent to which people are willing to go beyond ethics due to being fully consumed by ambition.
After Eve’s cunning efforts assist her in attaining reverence, she is left with a sense of loneliness, dissatisfaction, a lack of authorship of her life and a sense of vulnerability in the hands of other fans ready to outthrow her. Despite gaining the “applause… waves of love,” Eve realises that the so-called love from the audience is not for her but rather for an award- which represents the degradation of her success into a mere object. She also refrains from attending the party hosted by Max simply because it is a party celebrating the success of the award rather than the success of the party, illustrated as she says, “here take this to the party instead of me…” Due to the betrayals she endorsed in, she is left with no friends which envelops her into a sense of loneliness. Mankiewicz highlights the similarity of her alienation when the audience witness her not understanding the jargon and the inside jokes of the theatre when she is introduced to Margo and her companions and her inability to reconnect with Margo and Karen due to the disloyalty she bestows upon them. Eve not only receives fame, but she becomes a possession of Addison who dictates her life even to the extent of preventing her from marrying whoever she wants simply because he “won’t permit it…” As Addison confronts Eve about her manipulations he positions himself as if he is caging her in and trapping her with the truth of her nature and her obsession with fame which highlights the control he has of her. Furthermore, Eve is seen as vulnerable as Phoebe appears to have the same obsession of fame and a ruthless ambition which will make her go to any extent to encroach Eve and attain fame. It also highlights the weakness of having a star status as there are many personalities who aspire for attention under a spotlight who are willing supplant others for their own benefit. Mankiewicz presents Eve’s victory as hollow due to the deceitful actions she took due to being driven by an uncontrollable obsession with fame.
Mankiewicz promulgates the extent to which people who aspire to reach limelight of the theatre. He showcases the theatre as a ruthless, cut-throat world forcing people like Eve to sacrifice their morals and ethics to succeed. Eve is so driven by the idea of attaining fame that she becomes a compulsive liar and changes her mannerisms and identity in order to portray herself as an ingenue. Eve walks down various twisted, deceitful pathways marked with betrayal as she attempts to outthrow Margo and consume her life. Mankiewicz propagates the consequences of obsession with fame by presenting Eve’s victory in the show business as void- with her identity being objectified to a simple trophy. Her life is under the shackles by Addison and she is left with a lack of companionship. As the audience is introduced to Phoebe, Mankiewicz highlights the cyclical nature of the ruthless ambition for fame which forces people to seize others for their own benefit.
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