Women in Literature--Main Characters or Not? Book Review by Madame Mimi
Women in Literature--Main Characters or Not?
Looks at the role of the female central character as reflecting the times in three early 20th century novels.
# 148026
| 2,875 words
| 3 sources
| MLA
| 2011
| 
Published
on Aug 24, 2011
in
Literature
(American)
, English
(Analysis)
, Women Studies
(Women and Society)
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Description:
This paper examines the main character women of Daisy Buchanan in F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby", Lady Brett Ashley in Ernest Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises" and Faye Greener in Nathaniel West's "The Day of the Locust". All three of these women are essential to the story but, the author stresses, the male is the protagonist around whom the story revolves, yet would not exist without the female character. The paper concludes that all three of these women, who are irresistible magnets to the lust of men, have rejected the traditional female role of wife and mother but nonetheless find no true fulfillment for their lives, thus remaining secondary characters to the protagonist males.
Table of Contents:
Lady Brett Ashley
Daisy Buchanan
Faye Greener
Table of Contents:
Lady Brett Ashley
Daisy Buchanan
Faye Greener
From the Paper:
"Faye is not a fully realized character. Actually she is little more than a child. She exists largely to embody the failed Hollywood dream and to demonstrate the weakness of men in whom she knowingly evokes lust. This is especially apparent in the scenes with the Mexicans. We see a touch of humanity in her when she peels potatoes and drinks tequila out of a jug at the Mexican camp, or feels guilt over the death of her father, but she always goes back to her on-stage mode and doesn't care what sort of jealousy and violence she provokes among males."Sample of Sources Used:
- Hemingway, Ernest. The Sun Also Rises. 1926. New York: Scribner, 1996.Print.
- Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. 1925. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1999. Print
- West, Nathaniel. West: Novels and Other Writings. The Day of the Locust. 1939. New York: Library of America, 1997. Reprinted by permission of New Directions Publishing Corporation. Print
Cite this Book Review:
APA Format
Women in Literature--Main Characters or Not? (2011, August 24)
Retrieved September 24, 2023, from https://www.academon.com/book-review/women-in-literature-main-characters-or-not-148026/
MLA Format
"Women in Literature--Main Characters or Not?" 24 August 2011.
Web. 24 September. 2023. <https://www.academon.com/book-review/women-in-literature-main-characters-or-not-148026/>