What is The Temptation?
The Temptation, as well as “playing the serpent,” is a reference to The Bible and the story of Adam and Eve. In The Bible, Eve was tempted by the serpent to eat fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, which she then offered to her partner Adam. Because of this the two brought Original Sin to the world and were banished from the garden of Eden to live only short lives. In His Dark Materials, the act of the temptation and role of the serpent is performed by Mary Malone, but reinterpreted. After hearing a ghost emerging from the World of the Dead advise her to “tell them stories,” Mary Malone offers her story of “China,” a metaphor for love, to Will and Lyra. This is the temptation. Lyra, upon hearing the story begins to process feelings inside herself and can realise her own love. In essence, Lyra is tempted to understand the feeling of love.
