The Women of "Winesburg, Ohio"

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses the four most important women in the novel, "Winesburg, Ohio"" Alice Hindman, Elizabeth Willard, Kate Swift and Louise Bentley. Their success as women is evaluated and their relationships to the important men in their lives is also analyzed. How the book portrays women is thoroughly described. The paper's focus lies in the repression of women that is flagrantly obvious throughout the novel. The paper also analyzes how this repression affects each individual woman.

From the Paper:

"The women of Sherwood Anderson's novel Winesburg, Ohio are successfully portrayed as inferior and dependent failures through the author's use of overpowering and insensitive male characters. The narrator's tone suggests the women of Winesburg to be emotionally dependent upon the actions, or inactions, of their male counterparts. Louise Bentley's husband obscures his wife's identity through his failure to recognize that she does not fit neatly into his preconceived notion of what the responsibilities and qualities of a wife are. Alice Hindman's life is absolutely defined by the absence of her one-time lover Ned Currie - she is unable to sustain normal relationships because she remains inescapably dependent on Ned. Elizabeth Willard is denied any love at all. Her relationship with her son is formal and unfulfilling while her husband despises her and wishes that she did not exist at all. Finally, the character of Kate Swift encompasses the idea of repression of the female gender. Curtis Hartman's obsession with her places her on a pedestal - she has become an object rather than an actual person."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Anderson, Sherwood. Winesburg, Ohio. 1st ed. New York: Norton & Company, 1996.

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