Women In Jack Kerouac's On The Road

The novel, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is about societal difference between men and women the 1920s. Throughout the novel this theme is played through our main characters: Tom, Myrtle, and Daisy. Fitzgerald uses the possessive relationships between these characters to enlighten the reader about women’s social ranking. He demonstrates how men were able to control women by making them feel inferior. The author describes the importance of social class for women in the 1920’s through the possessive and ultimately destructive relationship of Tom and Myrtle.

In the 1960s the views of women were not as they are today. For centuries women have been objectified and not treated as equals, only being viewed as property or looked at for their physical features. Ken Kesey the author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, with the character McMurphy, learned towards the superiority of the male sexuality over female authority (123 Helpme). The women in the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest are portrayed as weak, sex objects, and domineering.

H. Bertens describes female stereotypes to come under four labels “an immoral and dangerous seductress, the woman as the eternally dissatisfied shrew, the woman as cute but essentially helpless, the woman as unworldly, self-sacrificing angel and so on.” These labels were commonly found in both androtexts and gynotexts as feminist criticism’s attention drew towards female writers by giving them more prominence and esteem, yet they were found to both reject the traditional female form and “succumbed to the lure of stereotypical representations.” Christina Rossetti was one who was found to come under such scrutiny with her poems ‘Maude Clare’, ‘No, Thank You John’, and ‘In an Artist’s Studio’ to convey differing constructions of women.

Throughout American Literature, women have been depicted in many different ways. The portrayal of women in American Literature is often influenced by an author's personal experience or a frequent societal stereotype of women and their position. Often times, male authors interpret society’s views of women in a completely different nature than a female author would. While F. Scott Fitzgerald may represent his main female character as a victim in the 1920’s, Zora Neale Hurston portrays hers as a strong, free-spirited, and independent woman only a decade later in the 1930’s.

hese women from the book “ Women Hollering Creek”, were abused and taken advantage of their own men. Sandra Cisneros explores the stories “Never marry a mexican”, Woman Hollering Creek”, and “One holy night”. The women in this stories made a mistake by being with the wrong men in their life. They became careless when they met their own men. These girls have lost their respect for themselves. They have destroyed their own self, for the guy who never really loves them. No one stood up for their rights as a woman. Love and hate made these women vulnerable.

The 1920’s was a time when the United States economy had a 42% increase (Amadeo). The United States had this increase in the economy due to industrial factories being built, and new inventions being made, which raised wages. Women during this time period gained many rights, but were still not as equal as men. African Americans were discriminated against and segregated during this time. Fashion in the 1920’s was brand new. Women had new styles of clothing and new hairstyles, and men started wearing athletic gear. In the 1920’s, and in the novel, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald wealth, women and racism, and fashion were big social beliefs that impacted lives in the United States.

Soon after, the physical description of Marylou is expanded and Kerouac says that she was “a pretty blonde with immense ringlets of hair like a sea of golden tresses; she sat there on the edge of the couch with her hands hanging in her lap and her smoky blue country eyes fixed in a wide stare because she was in an evil gray New York pad that she'd heard about back West, and waiting like a longbodied emaciated Modigliani surrealist woman in a serious room. But, outside of being a sweet little girl, she was awfully dumb and capable of doing horrible things” (Kerouac). This depiction of Marylou is insulting to femininity in a few ways. One, it describes her within the context of the icon of the angelic woman—with the blonde halo and innocent stare. When she stops behaving within the contexts of this angelic woman, Sal states, “I saw what a whore she was,” immediately reverting her to the only other icon of womanhood that existed then, the whore. Terry is another female character who is objectified as soon as Sal see her in the story. He states, “I saw the cutest little Mexican girl in slacks come cutting across my sight…Her breasts stuck out straight and true; her little flanks looked delicious; her hair was long and lustrous black; and her eyes were great big blue things

An argument can be made that the women in Jack Kerouac's On The Road are not as characteristically well developed as the men. Through Sal and Dean's interactions with women, the reader sees that there exist two types of females in this novel - the benevolent virgin/mother figure or the whore. Women are constantly referred to in a negative way or blatantly degraded and insulted by numerous characters. However, Kerouac (through the character of Sal) exhibits sympathy for women. Sal does occasionally participate in female stereotyping, but this is simply because he wants to fit in. Although Sal may try to make arguments against the poor treatment of women, the novel in its entirety seems to

This quote establishes the novel's unusual perspective on gender difference. It's the story of a woman's struggle with power. During this time, African American women were looked upon as the mules of the world, because the men were considered the "Gods." Society believed that since they were the men of their households, whatever they said was the way it went. The novel set the tone for different novels during the Harlem Renaissance. It was the first major novel published by an African American woman, so it was often classified as a feminist novel. Feminism is often associated with the idea that men and women are

In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, men and women hold very different roles. Not only are women the weaker sex, but their worth is dependant on how powerful and high up their husband is. Because of this, women are forced to be silent and are not allowed an opinion. If a woman shows traits that are considered manly, such as intelligence, determination, or control, she is considered masculine, and therefore unattractive. From a very young age, the main character, Janie, is taught that in order to find a suitable husband, she needs to suppress her independent personality. As a result of this belief being engraved into her, Janie does not realize her worth, therefore she is involved three abusive relationships. For years, girls were taught to make themselves smaller so they do not threaten the male’s reputation. The reader sees that Janie is an example the mistreatment of females through Janie’s three marriages.

Antoinette's story begins when she is a young girl in early nineteenth- century Jamaica. The white daughter of ex-slave owners. Five years have passed since her father, Mr. Cosway, reportedly drunk himself to death. As a young girl, Antoinette lives at Coulibri Estate with her widowed mother, Annette, her sickly younger brother, Pierre.Antoinette spends her days in isolation Discontent, however, is rising among the freed blacks, who protest one night outside the house. Bearing torches, they accidentally set the house on fire, and Pierre is badly hurt. The events of the night leave Antoinette dangerously ill for six weeks. She wakes to find herself in Aunt Cora's care. Pierre has died. When Antoinette is seventeen, Mr. Mason announces on

Many different depictions of gender roles exist in all times throughout the history of American culture and society. Some are well received and some are not. When pitted against each other for all intents and purposes of opposition, the portrayal of the aspects and common traits of masculinity and femininity are separated in a normal manner. However, when one gender expects the other to do its part and they are not satisfied with the results and demand more, things can shift from normal to extreme fairly quickly. This demand is more commonly attributed by the men within literary works. Examples of this can be seen in Tennessee Williams' “A Streetcar Named Desire”, where Stella is constantly being pushed around and being abused by her

In a novel set in 1920’s patriarchal society dominated by the obsession of wealth, power, chasing dreams and an enigmatic narrator, just how independent can a woman really be? This is the context for the characters in ‘The Great Gatsby’ where, in the aftershock of a world war, there is celebration and the incarnation of women left at home into ‘flappers’, but it is debatable how far they have really changed from traditional housewives. For Jordan this is an exciting transition but more traditional characters such as Tom cling to the past. When a threatening situation looms over them will they run and hide or confront the problem head on, the only way they know, as in ‘No Country for Old Men’? These contrasting reactions could be a result

       The women in Jack Kerouac's On The Road were, it seems, not afforded the same depth in character which the author gave the men. The treatment of the women characters in both word and action by Sal and Dean seems to show that women could only be a virgin/mother figure or a whore. Throughout the novel there are many instances in which women and their feelings or actions are either referred to flippantly or blatantly degraded. It can be said, however, that Sal (Kerouac) did not necessarily agree with this narrow female identity, and there is evidence to support this claim. The novel also shows though that Sal did participate in this male forced female stereotyping whether he

For many years, men have always held and desired power, especially when pitted against the fairer sex. The struggle for men to assert power is prevalent in Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, as the mentally-ill patients, led by Randle McMurphy, strive to remove Nurse Ratched’s subordination. Furthermore, Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises explores the role reversal of power in the sexes, through the adventures of expatriates in post-WWI Europe. Despite being written decades apart, Kesey and Hemingway both explore the concept of sexual empowerment and degradation in both sexes. This is seen through the dominating role women partake in both novels, the notion of male insecurity, and the symbolic representation of the main