Hemingway and Women - Essay Example

Hemingway and Women Ernest Hemingway echoes a number of issues repeatedly all through the books that he during his writing career. Typical themes that are common place in his works include the significance of male comradeship, marriage problems, love and the disappointments that arise when people establish families. This paper focuses on how Hemingway portrays women in relation to the two books-The Sun Also Rises and In Our Time. The Sun Also Rises is a book revolving around the increasing emergence of the new woman that comes about at the onset of the 20th century. Inside this novel, Hemingway comes up with new models appropriate for American women. On the other hand, In Our Time is a set of short stories published in 1925. “Mr. and Mrs. Elliot” and “Cat in the Rain” are examples of the stories in the collection. In general, the themes of the stories presented in the book In Our Time are separation, grief, love and marriage problems among others. “Mr. and Mrs. Elliot”, one of the short stories inside the book In Our Time, depicts a troublesome relationship just Jake’s relationship with Brett book The Sun Also Rises (Beegel 62). The major characters, Cornelia Eliot and Hubert happen to be American expatriates within Europe years after the end of World War I. Elliot is 25 years whilst he marries Cornelia who happens to be 15 years older than him. The two are both virgins at while marrying and there is a limited romance underpinning their marriage decision. Two days following their wedding day, the love couples sail for Europe. More specifically, they move to Paris then to Dijon, though they quickly become weary of that city then travel towards Touraine. Meanwhile, Hubert proceeds with his poetry writing exercise while Cornelia serves as his typist. The two jointly struggle to get a baby but they cannot succeed at the same. Hemingway uses the story about “Mr. and Mrs. Elliot” to pass a message about sterility. Cornelia’s fruitless efforts to get a baby depict the barrenness associated with the life of this couple along with the people around them. Even though these American expatriates are both educated and talented, the situation sees them wonder in Europe aimlessly (Donaldson 75). Going by this pattern of behavior, the couple represents the issue of Lost Generation that Hemingway addresses in the book The Sun Also Rises. Here, we see them pursue an infinite aspect of fulfillment that they never come by. This is more like Brett, in the Sun Also Rises, who pursues sexual relationships with the likes of Romero, Mike and Jake in the name of fulfilling a romantic need which she does not even draw any closer to in the end. In a bid to seek emotional refuge, Cornelia compels Hubert to send for her girlfriend in Boston. As Hemingway says, the lady was older than Cornelia and had been serving in the tea shop in Boston. When she eventually appears, we see her jointly engage in a number of good cries with Mrs. Elliot. Moreover, the girlfriend sleeps together and even takes dinner together with Mrs. Elliot. Further, we see her take up the role of typing manuscripts for Mr. Elliot when Cornelia starts making more mistakes while engaging in the same (Tetlow 77). In sum, these actions all depict Cornelia’s girlfriend as a person who was able to fill an emotional gap inside Mrs. Eliot. Through this scene, Hemingway lets readers to deem women as emotional beings who, driven by unfulfilled romantic needs, can decide to pursue emotional refuge from friends and acquaintances around them. Unlike Cornelia who resorts to a morally upright approach to seek emotional refuge, Brett thinks that engaging in promiscuity could be an answer to her romantic and emotional woes. Unfortunately, she does not convey any element of internal peace or happiness in the face of this course of action (Bloom and Ernest 23). She keeps telling Jake of how miserable her life is. Her unhappiness is attributed to three factors. Firstly, like the Count, Jake and Mike, she is part of the war veterans. Despite having a physical encounter with the combat, she worked in a military healthcare facility thus subjecting her to a harrowing experience brought about by the brutal weapons used in World War I. Secondly, the society does not feature any place to suit the likes of Brett. This could also explain the reason behind her lack of association with the female gender. Finally, Brett is almost becoming frustrated about her unreciprocated love just like Jake. According to Wagner-Martin (68), her chain of affairs could convey efforts aimed at filling the void resulting from Jake’s unavailability. Through Brett’s use of inappropriate approaches to emotional fulfillment, Hemingway makes readers perceive women as vulnerable fellows who can be carried away by their emotional needs to an extent of disregarding the issues underlying their emotional woes. Even through the morally-decayed actions that are mentioned of Brett, Hemingway helps readers that women also have the ability to be independent and to gain control over their surroundings. Contrary to the women in the 19th century, Brett seems to be in control of her environment and it is this perspective of her that allows her to witness things that women have never enjoyed or witnessed. Her independence is evidenced in her promiscuity. We see her failing to make any apologies for this course of action while responding to Jake’s concern that she futures numerous love interest. Nonetheless, this level of promiscuity violates the societal norms around Brett. Other than the failure of these actions to confirm to the societal norms, Hemingway could be intending to pass the message that times have changed and women also serve in different leadership roles much like men do. The sharp difference between the pathway that Mrs. Elliot and Brett follow while seeking happiness helps Hemingway bring to picture the idea that women have contrasting levels of sex drives. In the short story “Mr. and Mrs. Elliot”, it is clear that Mrs. Elliot has no interest in sex. Besides, she was capable of upholding her virginity till marriage, though she ended up being disappointed on her wedding night. This differs from Brett who has had sexual engagements with a chain of men. To the extent that Hemingway does not report any disappointments as pertains to Brett’s sexual engagements with the likes of Mike and Chon, readers are likely to be lead into thinking that maintaining sexual purity could be a failure-led decision as far as sexual performance in a marriage life is concerned. Just like Mr. and Mrs. Elliot and Brett, the short story “Cat in the Rain” portrays the American expatriates inside a hotel in Italy as another emotionally barren lot (Brennen 42). The story begins with the American wife staring at the rain via the window whilst they are at in an Italian resort; she is presumably listless or just bored up. Even though we are aware that it is weather that leads to their entrapment, readers can figure out that her level of entrapment is more intensified. Upon noticing a poor kitty keeping off rain underneath a table outside, George offers a half-hearted approval to fetch the same. She then goes to fetch the kitty and leaves George reading on the bed. Although George tries to urge her to stop her getting wet, his move to remain in bed already depicts an unsympathetic husband. So, what might have led her into staring at the rain via the window while she is with a love partner? Here we see Hemingway portraying women as people who can resort to any sort of distraction as a way to fill the emotional voids that are brought about by unfulfilled romantic needs. Contrary to the husband who is openly unprepared to render help unto her, the narrator of the story repeatedly mentions the verb “liked” when describing the wife’s feeling about being served by the hotel keeper (Bendixen 229). Besides, we see the hotelkeeper featuring a generosity of spirit that differs from George’s inattentive habit. This is seen when he sends a maid to shelter George’s wife while she pursues the cat, though the cat ends up escaping. The hotel keeper even goes ahead to bow to her making her feel extremely important. Overall, her feeling towards the favors and efforts of the hotelkeeper is twofold. On one hand, it makes us understand that women are beings who love to be adored and worshipped. On the other hand, it is Hemingway’s method of making us see women as beings capable of making other men make extra ordinary sacrifices. Implicit in this is the point that husbands disregarding the emotional needs of their wives risk losing them to other men who are willing to be responsive to their (women’s) emotional needs. A similar case of adoration and worship arises in the story the Sun Also Rises (Dunn 21). All through the course of the novel, Brett acts as the sun for which other characters in the novel move around going by the manner in which the Basque peasants put her on the wine cask then adore her like a goddess in the fiesta. According to Hemingway, Brett does not want to be associated with Jake’s Catholicism because she already deems herself as an object worth worshipping and hates using the same alter as other deities. However, Hemingway does not use this to convey the self-centered aspect of Brett; she is just being realistic regarding the authority that has acquired over men. So, just like George’s wife in Cat in the Rain, we see Brett also feeling obsessed about being worshipped and adored. The story of “Mr. and Mrs. Eliot” also portrays women as people who are transformed by modernization. Hemingway portrays Cornelia as a character whose sickness would be crowned in her adopting behaviors that are similar to women from the southern U.S. Just like every southern woman, she would be swiftly disintegrated due to issues like waking up too early, night travels and when subjected through sea sickness. Elsewhere, when Mr. and Mrs. Elliot travelled via boat, many of their counterparts did mistake Cornelia for being a mother to Hubert. Here still, we are able to see how a modern woman is ready to break the societal norms and even commit to a marriage relationship with a man who is younger than her. Interestingly, she never even looked her age when Hubert married her. Brett, in the book the Sun Also Rises, also portrays some elements of transformation rooted in modernization, though in a somewhat different context. Hemingway describes her as a lady who is not caught in the circle of the old fashioned women. In fact, if she were made real and relocated to the contemporary New York, London or Paris, she would perfectly fit therein. In fact, it is through Brett that Hemingway creates a more fascinating woman during the 20th century of the American literature. The modern perspective of her is illustrated even the more when Hemingway reports that she has even minimal consideration as regarding her failure to comply with the societal norms associated with her time period. In either case, readers are capable of figuring out the author’s intention to use women to redefine a modern American woman. In the story The Sun Also Rises, Hemingway portrays women as beings that are constantly pursued by men, though the ultimate choice of whether to start romantic relationships with such men often lies in their hands. For instance, in the story In Our Time, Hemingway portrays Cornelia to have cherished sexual purity prior to committing to a marital relationship with Hubert. The author goes ahead to detail that upholding this moral value allows Cornelia to meet a man who has never gone to bed with any other women. In fact, even their kissing sessions are described as trial adventures. To readers, this scene can serve as a lesson that women who uphold sexual purity become better placed to keep sexually rotten men at bay. Besides, the idea of Cornelia and Hubert first starting at friendship then ending at marriage illustrates women who abstain from pre-marital sex offer themselves proper foundation for meeting their acquaintances. Cornelia’s pre-marital behavior as far as sexual purity is concerned sharply contrasts what Hemingway describes of Brett in the story The Sun Also Rises. Hemingway portrays Brett to be partying hard. He portrays her as a woman who has remained unapologetic for being sexually promiscuous. The lady even goes to an extent of wearing her hair-cut short akin to men. Her attempt to refer everybody as chaps makes her to be like one of the boys. Hemingway reports her to have had male friends like Jake, Romero and Mike, all of whom she has tried affairs with. It is noteworthy that Brett does not have any female friends. In deed she plays the role of a man’s woman thus making nearly all men mentioned in the book to get romantically inclined towards her. Mike and Jake are reported to be so passionate about Brett to an extent that their spirit of affection is nearly leading them towards pursuing affairs with other men. One common factor about the female characters in the stories Sun Also Rises, Cat in the Rain and Mr. and Mrs. Elliot is the idea that women all get worried or frustrated if childlessness becomes breeds unhappiness in their marriage. In the story “Mrs. Elliot and Mrs. Elliot”, we see a lady whose childlessness has brought about actions like sending for the friend at Boston, ceasing from sleeping with her husband in the same bed and staying unhappily with the husband, a state which makes her look for happiness elsewhere. Though well-intended, the efforts by Mrs. Elliot to seek happiness do not in any way help her do away with the unhappiness founded on her childless state. So, still ends up leaving an unhappy life. Through her situation, Hemingway makes us understand that to a woman, begetting a child bring about a level of happiness that no other source can provide. In the story Cat in the Rain, we see the American wife crave for more materials goods. This is probably a way to make her emotional feelings stable and secure in order to be relieved of memories of a long awaited for child. Even though she tells the husband that she is unsure of why she is obsessed about the cat, it is clear that she is just in need of something to take care of, something to be in charge of and something that can make her transform like acquiring a child. Apparently George does not crave for that because he is more elderly and this is depicted in her serious behavior. In fact, this is the root of the challenges in their marriage. In this illustration, Hemingway helps readers to understand the far that women can go when childlessness poses challenges to their marriage. In the story the Sun Also Rises, we see Jake and Brett unable to produce children even if they desire to. As a consequence, they are led to purely base their friendship on emotional support thus making it difficult for them to abide by the society’s expectations. One of the core questions that Hemingway poses to the readers in the book the Sun Also Rises is the way women who desire physical love and incapacitated to provide emotional love can afford to cohabit with men who are not able to provide physical love but in need of emotional love (Dunn 166). So, how do readers figure out that Jake in not in a position to offer physical love? From a realistic perspective, they don’t considering that Hemingway does not explicitly state the extent to which Jake is harmed all through the novel. Readers are therefore compelled to imply that Jake has had to endure some damage targeted towards his manhood. Hemingway only affords to give understated cues regarding this matter as evidenced in the phrase "Of all the ways to be wounded. I suppose it was funny. I put on my pajamas and got into bed" (35). In fact, it is the obvious ambiguity in the aforementioned statements that leads readers into question the level of Jake’s injury. So, could Jake be impotent? Could his failure to perform sexually be rooted in his psychological wound? Is there a possibility that that the combat in war made him to lose his penis? Interestingly, none of the stated assumptions can be categorically disputed nor can readers explicitly verify them. More specifically, the novel does not provide readers with any explicit evidence regarding Jake even going through a sexually-related wound. Though the readers’ attention is brought to the injuries he had during war in the war in addition to him feeling awkward in the face of a sexually attractive female, it is worthwhile admitting that whichever inadequacy Jake features lies underneath the belt. In sum, Hemingway’s portrays women as beings who are obsessed with adoration, love attention, get worried about childlessness, people who love favors and bear who bear contrasting virtues as pertains to sexual priority prior to marriage. Put together, his insights can serve as an eye opener to a society that seeks to make women as comfortable as possible. Works Cited Beegel, Susan F. Hemingways Neglected Short Fiction: New Perspectives. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1992. Print. Bendixen, Alfred, and James Nagel. A Companion to the American Short Story. Chichester, U.K: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010. Internet resource. Bloom, Harold, and Ernest Hemingway. Ernest Hemingways the Sun Also Rises. New York, NY: Blooms Literary Criticism, 2007. Print. Brennen, Carlene F. Hemingways Cats. Sarasota, Fla: Pineapple Press, Inc, 2011. Print. Donaldson, Scott. The Cambridge Companion to Hemingway. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996. Print. Dunn, Robert. Ernest Hemingways the Sun Also Rises. , 1984. Print. Ernest Hemingway, Letter to Bernard Berenson, 13 September 1952, In Ernest Hemingway: Selected Letters 1917-1961, Ed. Carlos Baker, New York: Charles Scribners Sons, 1981, 780. All subsequent quotations in reference to The Old Man and the Sea are taken from this letter. Tetlow, Wendolyn E. Hemingways in Our Time: Lyrical Dimensions. Lewisburg [Pa.: Bucknell University Press, 1992. Print. Wagner-Martin, Linda. Ernest Hemingways "the Sun Also Rises": A Casebook. Oxford [u.a.: Oxford Univ. Press, 2002. Print. Read More