Comparing The Bell Jar And A Farewell To Arms
Final Essay
Through the feminist lens, equality, dehumanization, and stereotypes are seen within The Bell Jar, A Streetcar named desire, and A Farewell to Arms. The time period and author of each book are major reasons to why stereotypes are so strongly enforced. The time period of these novels 1940 to 1960’s was a time when women didn 't have much status, men were superior and women were only housewives. Based on the gender, the author comes across these aspects differently by how they characterize the females, allowing readers to see their personal view points. The stories of the female protagonist in each novel are very different.
The author of The Bell Jar, Silvia Plath, lived from 1932 through 1963, as a writer her options were limited on the basis of her gender. During the era, society had constructed roles that were deemed acceptable for women and men. Those set roles included a dominant working man and housewife or mother. Sylvia Plath and the main character in The Bell Jar, Esther Greenwood, shared many commonalties. Esther felt she would never actually be able to have choices …show more content…
in life because of designated housewife role. "A girl lives in some out-of-the-way town for nineteen years. So poor she can’t afford a magazine, and then she gets a scholarship to college and wins a prize here and a prize there and ends up steering New York like her own private car. Only I wasn’t steering anything, not even myself" (Plath 2).
The fact that Esther felt she couldn’t follow her dream of writing depressed her, and eventually led to her destruction.
Esther looked up to other female figures, such as Doreen until she found out she was dependent on men. Esther tried fighting the typical housewife concept, she was different. She did not let herself become an object of man. For one, she fought off Marco, rejecting him when he called her a slut, symbolizing her also rejecting society 's conceptions of women. Another instance of her rejecting society beliefs is when Buddy Willard asked Esther to marry him, she wouldn 't choose marriage over her dreams of a writing career. Although Esther stood up for herself these choices later caused her to feel alienated because other women settled for what society portrayed them as other than Esther. Her refusal caused her own mental breakdown and suicide
attempts.
Taking place during World war 1, A Farewell to Arms written by Ernest Hemingway has a different turn on female roles. During this time period, men would be at war or work, women were to be nurses for the wounded, mothers, or prostitutes. Hemingway’s depictions of women in this novel was overly submissive. He describes female characters as having one main purpose; clinging to, and sexually gratifying, their man. He made Catherine to be like a pet is to its owner, obedient. Towards the end of the novel we see how Catherine is especially accepting of being a mother, “I’m having a child and that makes me contented not to do anything” (Hemingway 297). This suggests that a woman’s work centered around maintaining a home and filling it with children.
Tennessee Williams author of A Streetcar Named Desire, characterizes the female central figure primarily as an object of desire. During the 1950’s time period Williams was exposed to women being wife’s, cooking, caring for children, doing house chores and possibly having minor jobs. The characters in A Streetcar Named Desire are trying to rebuild their lives in postwar America: Stanley and Mitch served in the military, while Blanche had affairs with young soldiers based near her home. Blanche has a minor job as a teacher which she does not keep, soon after she becomes very dependent on men, sexual urges, and chooses not to face reality. It is stereotypical for women to be dependent on men, not keep a job, and have a sexual representation. Even her sister, Stella was a housewife, and very dependent on her husband. Stanley, the protagonist is a violent and brutal representation of the male in American society during this period. He demonstrates absolute control of his household, including his wife.
Sylvia Plath incorporated her own personal values and life accounts into the autobiographical novel, The Bell Jar. Plath wrote this book from personal experiences, real women who faced obstacles upon obstacles and mental breakdowns trying to defy society 's constructed gender roles.
The gender of the author effects how the female protagonist is portrayed.
Works Cited
Hemingway, Ernest. A Farewell to Arms. New York: Scribner Classics, 1997. Print. Plath, Sylvia. The Bell Jar. New York: Harper & Row, 1971. Print.
Through the feminist lens, equality, dehumanization, and stereotypes are seen within The Bell Jar, A Streetcar named desire, and A Farewell to Arms. The time period and author of each book are major reasons to why stereotypes are so strongly enforced. The time period of these novels 1940 to 1960’s was a time when women didn 't have much status, men were superior and women were only housewives. Based on the gender, the author comes across these aspects differently by how they characterize the females, allowing readers to see their personal view points. The stories of the female protagonist in each novel are very different.
The author of The Bell Jar, Silvia Plath, lived from 1932 through 1963, as a writer her options were limited on the basis of her gender. During the era, society had constructed roles that were deemed acceptable for women and men. Those set roles included a dominant working man and housewife or mother. Sylvia Plath and the main character in The Bell Jar, Esther Greenwood, shared many commonalties. Esther felt she would never actually be able to have choices …show more content…
in life because of designated housewife role. "A girl lives in some out-of-the-way town for nineteen years. So poor she can’t afford a magazine, and then she gets a scholarship to college and wins a prize here and a prize there and ends up steering New York like her own private car. Only I wasn’t steering anything, not even myself" (Plath 2).
The fact that Esther felt she couldn’t follow her dream of writing depressed her, and eventually led to her destruction.
Esther looked up to other female figures, such as Doreen until she found out she was dependent on men. Esther tried fighting the typical housewife concept, she was different. She did not let herself become an object of man. For one, she fought off Marco, rejecting him when he called her a slut, symbolizing her also rejecting society 's conceptions of women. Another instance of her rejecting society beliefs is when Buddy Willard asked Esther to marry him, she wouldn 't choose marriage over her dreams of a writing career. Although Esther stood up for herself these choices later caused her to feel alienated because other women settled for what society portrayed them as other than Esther. Her refusal caused her own mental breakdown and suicide
attempts.
Taking place during World war 1, A Farewell to Arms written by Ernest Hemingway has a different turn on female roles. During this time period, men would be at war or work, women were to be nurses for the wounded, mothers, or prostitutes. Hemingway’s depictions of women in this novel was overly submissive. He describes female characters as having one main purpose; clinging to, and sexually gratifying, their man. He made Catherine to be like a pet is to its owner, obedient. Towards the end of the novel we see how Catherine is especially accepting of being a mother, “I’m having a child and that makes me contented not to do anything” (Hemingway 297). This suggests that a woman’s work centered around maintaining a home and filling it with children.
Tennessee Williams author of A Streetcar Named Desire, characterizes the female central figure primarily as an object of desire. During the 1950’s time period Williams was exposed to women being wife’s, cooking, caring for children, doing house chores and possibly having minor jobs. The characters in A Streetcar Named Desire are trying to rebuild their lives in postwar America: Stanley and Mitch served in the military, while Blanche had affairs with young soldiers based near her home. Blanche has a minor job as a teacher which she does not keep, soon after she becomes very dependent on men, sexual urges, and chooses not to face reality. It is stereotypical for women to be dependent on men, not keep a job, and have a sexual representation. Even her sister, Stella was a housewife, and very dependent on her husband. Stanley, the protagonist is a violent and brutal representation of the male in American society during this period. He demonstrates absolute control of his household, including his wife.
Sylvia Plath incorporated her own personal values and life accounts into the autobiographical novel, The Bell Jar. Plath wrote this book from personal experiences, real women who faced obstacles upon obstacles and mental breakdowns trying to defy society 's constructed gender roles.
The gender of the author effects how the female protagonist is portrayed.
Works Cited
Hemingway, Ernest. A Farewell to Arms. New York: Scribner Classics, 1997. Print. Plath, Sylvia. The Bell Jar. New York: Harper & Row, 1971. Print.