Machinations In Eve Harrington's All About Eve

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None of her machinations ultimately make Eve happy in “All about Eve”. Discuss. “All about Eve”, directed by Joseph Mankiewicz involves a series of machinations by the character Eve Harrington, in order to wedge herself into an affluent and famous lifestyle. Produced in 1950, the play represents Eve’s desperations to become accepted in the theatre as it was considered the pinnacle of existence. Eve achieved contentment for a brief period through her scheme, however finally lost all happiness by the conclusion of the film. She didn’t realise initially that throughout her process of acceptance in the theatre, she gradually made it known to various characters of her underlying motivation. She demonstrated herself as a loyal friend to Margo Channing, however, showed too much devotion which put Margo on alert. Further, when she made an attempt to seduce a powerful man in the …show more content…

Addison, an important critic in the theatre was very perceptive of the suspicious behaviour of Eve. However, he didn’t have much basis for his theory until he became closer with Eve and picked up on clues of stutters or inconsistencies with her stories. His sarcastic comments like “the Shubert… untouched by the earthquake – so sorry – fire”, went unnoticed by Eve who befriended him for the publicity he could provide for her rise in her career, while meanwhile unaware of her letting loose on her absorbing lie. Addison’s completion of the puzzle through his own perceptive eye and the information from other people, allowed for him to confront Eve for her fraudulent behaviour and explains to her how much she “completely belongs” to him. Eve’s ultimate downfall was as a result of some of her inattentive comments that Addison was able to pick up on, depleting her satisfaction, despite her brief happiness in the