Ernest Hemingway's works are often criticized by feminist critics because of the way he writes about women. Hemingway is often described as "the perfect example of an archaic masculinity that many would like to see eradicated" (Haske). Many believe that Hemingway embodies patriarchal attitudes through the way he characterizes women and the way they are portrayed in his stories. In all of Hemingway's short stories, the main characters are always men. Although there are usually female characters, they are never featured as protagonists. Even then, many critics feel that the female characters are poorly represented. The way women are characterized in his stories makes it seem like women are not taken seriously or respected by the men around them. Hemingway chooses to leave women in the shadows of his writings. Although it appears that Hemingway is a misogynist because of the way he degrades and misrepresents women in his writings, Hemingway's writings represent realistic situations based on the times in which they were written. By carefully analyzing his stories, the reader can see that Hemingway is doing his best to adapt to the societal changes occurring during this period of history and can arguably be progressive. Analysis of how Hemingway characterizes female characters in his stories "Soldier's Home", "The Cat in the Rain" and "The End of Something" shows that Hemingway was not a misogynist, but represented rather realistic situations associated with the era. history.Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Feminist literary criticism, by definition, “assumes that literature both reflects and shapes stereotypes and other cultural assumptions.” Thus, feminist literary criticism examines how literary works embody or undermine patriarchal attitudes” (Napikoski). Ernest Hemingway's In Our Time was originally published in 1925. At that time, the United States was in the midst of the women's suffrage movement, which began in the 1920s when women gained the right to vote . Steven Lynn explains that our "Western society has actually been structured to protect women from the brutalities of war and commerce, allowing them to be nurturers, mothers, and homemakers...it overlooks the fact that isolation and honor are themselves a kind of repression and exclusion. And this assumes that women are the weaker sex (emotional, unstable, passive, irrational), in need of protection and unable to compete with men. But by no means are all women weaker than all men” (Lynn, 223). While women gained more rights and a greater voice within society, most women remained in the traditional role of housewife. It was extremely difficult to dismantle gender norms and societal expectations. This period produced many inconsistencies in beliefs and values ​​due to the different ideas of the older "traditionalist" generation and the "new woman" from the younger generation (Alchin). An instructive story on these questions. “Soldier’s House”. In this short story, Krebs is a young man who has just returned from the war. His transition to life in the country proves extremely difficult. His family begins to worry about his well-being, so they encourage him to find a job and a nice girl to date. Unfortunately, Krebs is no longerable to build relationships and connect with those around him, which leads him to take action towards his family. In this story, Hemingway describes the idea that women's primary goal should be the desire to be a housewife. The beginning of the story features Krebs' sister, who plays the first active role for a woman in the story. In the dialogue, she asks her brother "Aren't you my boyfriend, Hare?" (Hemingway, 74 years old). She goes on to explain that her brother is her boyfriend and she asks him if he loves her. She keeps asking Krebsquestions this until he reluctantly gives her an accepting answer. In “Rhetoric and Women: The Private and Public Spheres,” an essay published in Constructing and Reconstructing Gender, Lesley Di Mare explains that in literature, “women are defined according to their biological function… other disciplines (history, philosophy, art, film, etc.) have been used by the patriarchy to create the impression that women function better biologically, none have been used as effectively as the discipline of rhetoric. Indeed, the rhetorical tradition has acted as a tool of the dominant cultural position to promote the idea that women are capable of only one function – biological… the secondary status of women in society becomes one that is perpetuates” (Di Mare, 47). ). Di Mare explains that literature often describes that women's sole purpose in society is to have children and be housewives. Krebs' sister represents the idea that women, even from a young age, believe that their function in society is to marry and have children. From a young age, society taught her sister that her main concern was to be accepted by men. Likewise, we are introduced to Krebs' mother who represents a woman who fulfills her "biological function." In the story, she is presented as a hyper-religious, tenacious and emotional housewife. Although being a stay-at-home mom is the “job” that society expects of her, she is still criticized even when she is a good mother. The famous literary critic Simone de Beauvoir explained in her book The Second Sex that “women have been represented in literature and culture as Mary or Eve, the angelic mother or the wicked seductress. Such depiction of women, particularly in works by men, serves to render women unreal…rather than anything positively feminine or mutually human” (Lynn, 227). According to de Beauvoir, Krebs' mother in "Soldier's House" functions as a "Mary" because of her housewife stereotype. De Beauvoir argues that portraying women as the perfect housewife is an unrealistic portrayal of women, thus perpetuating the misogynistic views of our society. Although "Soldier's Home" primarily depicts the idea that a woman's purpose is to raise a family, Hemingway attempts to subtly negate this idea with Krebs' sister. Krebs' sister talks about her love for baseball and even says, "I can throw better than a lot of boys" (Hemingway, 74). Before the 1920s, it was considered unsuitable for women to play sports (“Women in Sports and Physical Education at Wooster College”). By acknowledging the fact that his sister thrived in athletic competitions (even against boys), Hemingway demonstrates his attempt to dismantle typical gender roles during this period. Similar to “Soldier’s House,” “The Cat in the Rain” features a female character who seems to seek the approval of a man: her husband, George. In the story, an American couple is stuck in a hotel room because it's raining outside. While the womanlooks out the window, she sees a cat caught in the rain. The wife decides she wants to go get the cat, but this upsets the husband and causes a series of disagreements between the couple. In each case proposed by the wife, “the male character is disturbed by this overwhelming experience of difference” (Holliday-Karre, 70) and he is told no. During their conversation in the hotel room, the woman – who is never given any name other than “the American” – talks about how much she longed for the cat outside. She continues talking in the hopes of gaining some recognition or attention, but George is completely uninterested in what his wife has to say and does not look up from his newspaper. He doesn't engage in conversation until she asks, "Don't you think it would be a good idea if I let my hair grow?" (Hemingway, 93). Once the conversation turned to something regarding his wife's appearance, he gave her his full attention and "hadn't taken his eyes off her since she began speaking" (Hemingway, 93) . Virginia Woolf, one of the greatest modernist writers of the 20th century, said: "Women have served for all these centuries as mirrors possessing the magical and delicious power of reflecting a man's figure twice his natural size." …This serves to explain in part the necessity that women so often are for men” (Holliday-Karre). Here, Woolf explains that both historically and in literature, women have been objects that men want to control: they serve whatever man would want them to be. Before the women's rights movement, women were expected to submit to their husbands and were often viewed as objects rather than their own person. The woman in "Cat in the Rain" describes this idea and thus functions as her husband's reflector. Some critics believe that the way Hemingway describes the woman's behavior in "Cat in the Rain" as narcissistic and that "[her] desire for emotion and physical contact is unrealistic" (Holliday-Karre, 74) because she attempts to break away from her husband's expectations. During this period, women were expected to be complacent and not question their husbands. Like many women in the 1920s, the American wife in "Cat in. the Rain” had to show great strength and audacity to try to break with the expectations of society and her husband to be recognized as her own person. presented in his stories are often characterized in a negative way. Some critics believe that Hemingway, in his short story "The End of Something", the female character is portrayed as naive and delusional, but this is not the case. two previous stories, this story instead depicts a strong, independent woman who disregards the gender norms often associated with the women featured in Hemingway's stories. In the story, Nick and Marjorie are in a serious relationship. Marjorie thinks her relationship with Nick is going well and even thinks there might be a prospect of marriage in the near future. Unfortunately, Nick doesn't feel the same way and he's decided he can't be with Marjorie anymore. Throughout the story, the reader is able to pick up on the subtle hints of Nick's disinterest. Marjorie has no idea that Nick feels this way and doesn't think much of his short, condescending responses. Eventually, Nick fights with Marjorie while being frustrated that she "knows everything". This moment suggests that “Marjorie’s knowledge therefore seems to be the source of Nick’s unhappiness” (Daiker, 246). The knowledge and.