| Chapter One of this dissertation reviews what has been said about Hemingway's treatment of women characters. There is a consensus that his women characters are unrealistic, submissive sex objects; that the author's attitude toward women in general is antagonistic. But such opinions are simplistic and expressed in general terms: his women characters are divided into "good" and "bad," "goddesses" and "bitches." In addition, Hemingway's women characters are believed, implicitly or explicitly, to do more than women should or could do. That is, Hemingway is actually criticized for his creation of women characters who are greater than ordinary women. A careful study of Hemingway's canon, however, reveals that such labels can hardly explain the complexity of Hemingway's women characters or of the contexts in which they appear.;His idealism is basically American. It insists that one's greatness derives from his/her being one's self. Thus, a woman exhibits physical and moral feminine traits, and thereby achieves whatever she is entitled to, or capable of, achieving. Yet, Hemingway rejected women whose femininity is conditioned by the Genteel Tradition, which has proved itself emasculating to men and destructive of the healthy growth, cohesiveness, and happiness of traditional family structure and of the traditional structure of society. Such a Tradition, Hemingway implies, leads sooner or later to a confusion of masculine and feminine roles.;While, it was found, Hemingway sustains his sense of artistic justice and his sympathy for women, he could not condone either lesbianism or the behavior of any women who act like men. Such women not only confuse and change traditional roles, they also deprive themselves of their identity and of their formidable source of power, their being truly feminine. Hemingway's conservatism would allow him to approve only of a love relationship between a man and a woman, since the ultimate goal of love is marriage and raising a family. The healthy growth and happiness of a family are dependent upon its having a balanced combination of full masculinity in the father, and full femininity in the mother. Hemingway, therefore, openly disapproves of women who look or act like men: that disturbs nature's balance and it eventually leads men who condone the behavior of such women to act and look like women. He even goes as far as to reject even women's subtle changes of identity, though they may be changes made while attempting to express genuine love.;This is not to suggest that Hemingway was reactionary. In fact, Hemingway's women characters are some of the most revolutionary women in fiction. They live as freely as possible; they participate in wars; and they are more aggressive and articulate in matters of sex and love than most women.;In succeeding chapters we see that Hemingway demonstrates how determined and dedicated he was to preserve an age-old, ever-new tradition of great men playing their roles as men, and great women playing their roles as women. These ideas are approached in a context of ideals in which there are no simply "good" or "bad" women. Instead, there are women who, however "good" they might be, are measured and appreciated according to how close they come to living up to Hemingway's ideals. |
