Forbidden fruit
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- For other uses, see Forbidden fruit (disambiguation).
The term "forbidden fruit" is a popular metaphor that describes any object of desire whose appeal is a direct result of the knowledge that it cannot or should not be obtained. The phrase comes from the Bible, where it is the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil eaten by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. As a result of eating this fruit, Adam and Eve lost their innocence, began to know good and evil, and were exiled from the garden where they were forced to adopt agriculture under less than desirable circumstances for a living. The concept of "knowing" good and evil can be best understood as being emotionally entangled with the struggle of determining the difference.
Popularly, the fruit has been identified as an apple (perhaps as a Latin pun of 'malus' sounding like 'evil' and 'apple'), although the Bible does not identify the fruit as an apple. Judaism teaches that the fruit may have been either grape, fig, wheat, or citron. In recent years, some researchers are supporting the fact that the forbidden fruit is actually a pomegranate, from the supposed location of the Garden of Eden.
In the philosophical novel Ishmael, the story of eating the forbidden fruit is described as a metaphor for the loss of quality of life caused by the change from hunter-gatherer culture to an agriculture-based society.
The term most generally refers to any indulgence or pleasure that is considered illegal or immoral and potentially dangerous or harmful, particularly relating to such things as human sexuality (underage, extramarital, or otherwise), recreational drug use, and underage alcoholic beverage consumption.
In some biblical interpretations, the 'apple' was a metaphor for sexuality, 'the first sin' and so forth. This is heavily disputed.
