WOMEN IN THE NOVELS OF JOHN UPDIKE: A CRITICAL STUDY

Although a few of the women characters in John Updike's early novels have received some critical consideration, there has been no thorough study of the women in all of his novels. This dissertation analyzes and evaluates the women characters in The Poorhouse Fair (1959), Rabbit, Run (1960), The Centaur (1963), Of the Farm (1965), Couples (1968), Bech (1970), Rabbit Redux (1971), A Month of Sundays (1975), Marry Me (1976), and The Coup (1978). It also provides a biographical chapter on Updike.; John Updike's first five novels, as well as his seventh novel Rabbit Redux, create major female characters who are stabilizing forces. Amelia Mortis, Bessie Jamiesson, and Elizabeth Heinemann in The Poorhouse Fair; Mary Angstrom and Ruth Leonard in Rabbit, Run; Cassie Caldwell in The Centaur; Mary Robinson and Peggy Robinson in Of the Farm; Angela Hanema and Foxy Whitman in Couples; and Mary Angstrom in Rabbit Redux are women who show individual strength of character and who provide a reference point of stability for the male protagonists.; Updike creates less vivid portrayals of women as stabilizing forces in Bech and in Marry Me. Ekaterina Ryleyeva, Vera Glavanakova, and Hannah Bech in Bech, and Ruth Conant in Marry Me are intelligent, independent, and efficient women who are seen by the male protagonists as possessing an inner stability.; Through his careful and compassionate development of women as stabilizing forces, Updike suggests that stability is an admirable and desirable trait in women. Because his mother is a strong-willed, self-confident, and independent woman, Updike certainly has had her vitality in mind as he has created these women.; Updike reveals, tonally and dramatically, a lack of respect and concern for those women who are wholly sexual. He portrays several women entirely as sexual objects: Janice Angstrom in Rabbit, Run and Rabbit Redux; Jill Pendleton, Peggy Fosnacht, and Mim Angstrom in Rabbit Redux; all the wives in Couples except Angela Hanema and Foxy Whitman; Norma Lachett in Bech; Alicia Crick, Jane Marshfield, and Frankie Harlow in A Month of Sundays; Kadongolimi, Candace Cunningham, Sattina, Sheba, and Kutunda in The Coup.; The sexuality of Vera Hummel and Penny Fogleman in The Centaur and Sally Mathias in Marry Me is softened by their other qualities--the kindness and naturalness of Vera, the innocence of Penny, and the naivete of Sally.; Updike reveals an admiration for those women who are both stabilizing forces and sexual beings. He portrays several women who embody a balanced combination of the two qualities: Ruth Leonard in Rabbit, Run, Cassie Caldwell in The Centaur, Peggy Robinson in Of the Farm, Angela Hanema and Foxy Whitman in Couples, Ekaterina Ryleyeva and Vera Glavanakova in Bech, and Ruth Conant in Marry Me. These women come closest to Updike's apparent ideal, the woman who combines generosity of spirit with generosity of sexual favor.; A study of the point of view of each novel reveals that Updike is objective in the treatment of his female characters. He balances the views of his male protagonists with those of the implied author and many times with the views of his women characters.; However unbiased Updike is in his portrayals of women, it is evident that all the women in all his novels are gauges of the male protagonists. The women are not characterized for their own sakes; they become vehicles by which the concerns of the male protagonists are expressed.