The Sun Also Rises Gender Roles

“A man’s heart is a wretched, wretched thing, Mariam. It isn’t like a mother’s womb. It won’t bleed, it won’t stretch to make room for you.”

Does deviating from one’s gender norms inevitably doom one down a spiral of moral corruption? Tim O'Brien, author of “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong” and Ernest Hemingway, author of “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber”, certainly seem to hold this view, as evident by the fates of the major female characters in their respective works. The deviance of the major female characters in both works appears to corrupt not only themselves, but also pollute their partners, causing them to suffer injury or harm as a result. The degree of injury ranges from negligible, like Fossie’s demotion and broken heart, to fatal, like the bullet that rips through Macomber’s skull. It begs the question, are these stories meant to serve as cautionary tales for their female readers, or possibly for their husbands, so they may recognize gender deviance and stop it in its tracks before their wives transform into Margot Macomber or Mary Anne Bell? This essay will analyze what such characters say about pervading views of women, both in society and in literature.

Lady Brett Ashley in The Sun Also Rises has always been regarded as one of Ernest Hemingway’s most hated characters. Both critics and readers have seen her simply as a bitch, and do not view her as a likeable or relatable character in any way. Her alcoholism, her use and abuse of men, and her seeming indifference to Jake Barnes’s love are just a few reasons why Hemingway’s readers have not been able to stand Brett, and do not give her a fair chance. It is clear that Jake is biased in his narration, but no one wants to question his opinions and judgments of Brett; in fact, since the book was

In Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises, we are taken back to the 1920’s, accompanied by the “Lost Generation.” During this time, prohibition was occurring in America. Hemingway uses alcohol as an obstacle that causes distresses between the main character, Jake and his life. Along with alcohol, promiscuity is prevalent throughout the novel. The heroine of the novel, Brett, displays the theme of promiscuity throughout the novel. She uses her sheer beauty and charming personality to lure men into her lonely life. The themes of alcohol and promiscuity intertwine with the Lost Generation in this classic love saga.

Ernest Hemingway once said, “Life isn’t hard to manage when you’ve nothing to lose” (Ernest Hemingway). Perhaps this is the reason 1920’s new woman Lady Brett Ashley was able to control her life with such ease. She had never been tied down to a man, therefore she had no real love to lose. She was free. As the novel progresses so does Brett’s outlook on love. Lady Brett Ashley is very much her own person. The character she depicts is placed in this story to strongly emphasize the hypermasculinity of women in the 1920’s. Brett was written by Hemingway as the complete opposite of Frances, married housewife, who was the ideal woman before the new era was brought upon by the 20’s.

Ernest Hemingway grasps the intimacy and authenticity of human relationships, in his book, “In Our Time.” The book consists of short stories following the lives of different individuals. Few of the short stories include The End of Something, Mr. and Mrs. Elliot, Cat in the Rain, and The Doctor and The Doctor’s Wife. Through these short stories, relationships between male and female characters, lack meaningful intimacy. There is a disconnect amongst these couples. Hemingway redefines intimacy and what it means. Intimacy goes beyond sex; it is a bond between individuals. He is depicting two forms of intimacy through his characters. One form of intimacy is emotional intimacy, which is portrayed in the male characters. The other form would be sexual intimacy. Thus, Hemingway is changing our perception of intimacy; it is not only found in male and female relationships, but also in friendships. The bond between the male characters is more meaningful and stronger than the female and male relationships.

Another important aspect of the novel is that of sexuality and of same-sex desire. Froehlich states that, in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries,

At first glance, Ernest Hemingway’s The  Sun Also Rises is an over-dramatized love story of bohemian characters, but with further analysis, the book provides a crucial insight into the effects of World War I on the generation who participated in it. Hemingway’s novel follows a group of expatriates as they travel Europe and experience the post war age of the early 1900’s. The protagonist is Jake Barnes, an American war veteran who lives in Paris and is working as a journalist. Jake was injured during the War and has remained impotent ever since. His love interest, Lady Brett Ashley, is an alcoholic englishwoman with severe promiscuity, which is representative of women and the sexual freedom that emerged during the Progressive Era. Jake and Brett

Women of the 1920’s compared to women today are seen as very passive and were usually domestic wives whose main responsibility was to take care of the house and children. But throughout this decade, women were starting to slowly modernize and become more independent. In The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway, Lady Brett Ashley is somewhat portrayed as “the admirable new woman” of the 1920’s-the woman who openly flaunts accepted conventions of the passive, dependent female role in society and emerges as a positive, inspiring, and risk-taking figure in Paris, Pamplona, and Madrid among the male expatriate artists. In the novel, we see Brett as a modern and somewhat inspiring woman through characterization and the analysis of specific moments

The dominant masculinity in western culture is associated with heterosexuality, a unit of a man and woman from opposite axis of masculinity and femininity. For Annie Proulx, “Brokeback Mountain” complicates the gendered duality, portraying two men acting on their homoerotic desires, but also depicts them as hetero-social. Proulx blurs the boundaries of gender and sexuality by representing her main protagonists, Ennis del Mar and Jack Twist, as bisexuals. The characters are able to slip in and out of a heterosexual life with their wives, which are portrayed as socially acceptable, but also struggle with their sexual desires for each other, which are always hidden from the public. As her characters demonstrate, gender and sexuality is not stable, nor is it “black and white,” “heterosexual and homosexual.” Bisexuality represents a middle ground and destabilizes the dichotomy. As the discussion of main characters, landscape, and minor male characters demonstrates, “Brokeback Mountain” focuses on the dangers of hyper-masculinity in dominant culture and how homosexuality and bisexuality is portrayed as inferior to heterosexual norms.

Cohn lacks the dominative nature that is indicative of a quintessential man, which lowers his status below equally timid men. Cohn believes he is chivalrous; not realizing that he is letting women take advantage of him. His traditional values often get in the way of his judgment. Frances, Cohn’s initial love interest, looks at him as a “careless possession” (Heminway 19). Even when he is being exploited, Cohn doesn’t “looked [look] at another woman” (19) and stays faithful. At the time, men were supposed to be controlling of women and dictate the course of their relationship. Yet, Cohn is perfectly fine with being taken advantage of. This stems from Cohn’s feelings of inferiority from his days at Princeton, where he was mocked for being Jewish. His insecurities now come out in different situations, making him more submissive than a stereotypical man. Similarly, when Cohn falls hopelessly in love with Brett, he follows her “around like a poor bloody steer” (146). It is evident that Cohn stays overly attached to women even when the relationship is clearly over. He is condemned by the core group of men for this behavior, yet they display this same characteristic. Each of the men also take interest in Brett and give her control because she is “damned good-looking” (29). Hemingway

True the characters in the movie Some Like it Hot behaved as women. Also, the men knew exactly how to behave in different settings. Alternatively, the actors smoothly transitioned into their masculine roles. Furthermore, I wondered if there was any social or political agenda related to the subject matter of the movie. Thus, the social construction agenda defining and enforcing gender roles reflects the social temperament of the 1950’s. Moreover, understandably during the 1950’s men dressing as women was considered socially unacceptable. Therefore, men and women who actually lived LBGTQ kept their lifestyle in the closet. Nonetheless, I appreciate the movie enchanting viewers with a film considered a timeless classic. Overall, the actors in

Throughout Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises many themes are seen. Among them being Drinking, nature, the lost generation, masculinity, and sexuality. Probably the most important out of these would be that of sexuality. Within the book it is simply seen as a means to an end, the relationships are not usually well thought out or meaningful. Rather they simply serve a purpose of showing that one can be in one without being committed to anything at the same time. One of the biggest parts that shows of this is how relationships are in constant flux throughout the entire novel.

Lorraine Hansberry was a forward thinker for her time in the 1950’s, which was evident in her writing. “It is believed that hidden behind her work was Hansberry’s own personal struggle with gender” (Wiener 10-11). After many years of marriage and eventually divorce, it was discovered that she was a closet homosexual (Wiener 11). Male and female gender roles are heated topics that have been debated for generations. Women in the United States are still regarded as taking care of and nurturing children as well as the responsibility for taking care of the home. The majority of women in America have a career outside the home, yet still

In the first chapters of Ernest Hemingway’s novel, The Sun Also Rises, we start to look into what is to be considered to be the New Woman in the 1920s. Young woman with bobbed hair and short skirts who drank, smoked and said “unladylike” things, in addition to being more sexually free than previous generations. “This later New Woman pushed past the example of the preceding generation by infringing on the masculine in her physical appearance as well as in her level of education and career choice by combining masculine and feminine traits” (Yu). In the first chapters of this novel Hemingway emphasizes the New Woman and their social culture. He does this by his portrayal of Brett. Brett in the novel is the perfect example of the New Woman in her apperance, the role she plays, and how she uses sexuality.