- Brett Ashley was not modeled on Hemingway's current wife, Hadley Richardson. Instead, she was based on Lady Duff Twysden and Pauline Pfeiffer, who Hemingway would later go on to marry after divorcing Hadley. This creates a curious parallel between Brett and Hemingway himself. In The Sun Also Rises, Brett had already been married twice and was going to marry Mike as her third husband. She was also extremely unfaithful, going off with many different men. Hemingway married four women within a twenty-five year span, and was infatuated with others. Both characters fell in love easily, then fell in love again and felt bad that they had left whomever they loved first. Brett felt guilty about her many "conquests", and Hemingway said about Hadley, "I wished I had died before I ever loved anyone but her." An odd parallel for a man who cared so much about masculinity.
- The independence-loneliness paradox: Brett is extremely independent for her time. In the twenties, women were beginning to have more opportunities, but Brett takes this to the extreme. Of course, she doesn't work, so she is dependent on either her parents, an inherited fortune, or her husband, but she lives away from her husband, travels Europe, and seems to keep everyone under her control. Nevertheless, she is not happy being alone--she is almost afraid of loneliness. Her relationships with numerous men do not give her any lasting satisfaction or happiness. Jake says that she "cannot go anywhere alone." Her lifestyle is the epitome of the wandering lifestyle of the expatriates. She wanders from man to man as Jake and his friends wander from bar to bar and country to country.
- Brett is dangerous to men. She makes men wild about her, and does it even without trying. This poses a threat to the men of the story. They do not necessarily want to fall in love with her; Cohn calls her Circe, while Jake has many moments of feeling like it would be much easier for him if he was not in love with her. He says things like "To hell with Brett. To hell with you, Lady Ashley." Brett is also liberated and semi-androgynous, with masculine manners and vocabulary (chap) and a boyish haircut. It is interesting that Hemingway should combine these two aspects. Hemingway's presentation of Brett has led critics to describe her as a "bitch-goddess", a "woman who made castration her hobby", and a nymphomaniac. Clearly, his presentation of her is not particularly positive, and it is possible to conclude that Hemingway was an anti-feminist who saw danger in women gaining liberation. However, there are hints in the book that it is not quite this simple.
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
To Hell with Brett
I haven't posted anything about Hemingway in general yet, but I'm just going to dive into Brett. Oh, she is so confusing, pitiful, powerful, arrogant, immoral, annoying, funny, and most of all contradictory. I have a feeling that she is much more attractive to men than she is to women; it seems like most of the boys in class found her to be sympathetic, while the girls found her obnoxious. There is much more to her than meets the eye, as is typical with Hemingway's writing, but of course it is never revealed and so we never really understand her. I decided to flip through some webpages on her to see what I could find. So these aren't really cohesive arguments. They're just observations that helped me to understand her a little better.
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It's a little disappointing there are no other strong female characters in the book, because it would be really interesting to hear what other women have to say about Brett. All the men seemed to be infatuated with Brett at first, and then disgusted with her as they are disillusioned. I wonder what the women (such as Frances) thought of Brett.
ReplyDeleteThis post was really interesting! I think that the independence-loneliness paradox one really accurately describes Brett's interactions with others in the book. Even though I don't like Brett, I think that she is central to the story. Without Brett this group of people would have never come together. She's the common thread between many of the characters that interact. Mike and Jake wouldn't have met, Cohn wouldn't have been so obsessed with their circle of friends, and we would have never met the count either. Brett brings the drama into this book, and the social drama and the conversation between the characters of the book is what makes the book interesting.
ReplyDeleteI think that Frances would have probably disapproved of Brett. Both Brett and Frances are very stubborn people who have different views of the world and I think one conversation would have them trying to kill each other. Mrs. Braddock probably doesn't even care that much about what Brett does in her spare time. If Braddock only teases Jake for bringing Georgette to the bar with him then she would most likely have no problem with Brett. Then there's the lady at the hotel who hated Brett at first, and it was only after Brett gave her money that she changed her mind.
I saw some similarities between Brett and the "manic pixie dream girl." She's "cool" with her boyish haircut and unusual vocabulary, and I think the big attraction is that she's exciting -- the manic pixie dream girl is the kind of solution to a boring life. Girls (who can be very critical of other girls) see that kind of girl as more unrealistic, and that relationships with her probably won't last -- you see this with Brett, who can never keep up a relationship and who breaks a lot of guys' hearts. I think her backstory was an interesting thing to include in the novel because whereas a lot of characters who fit with the manic pixie dream girl trope just sort of appear out of nowhere fully formed, Brett has this history of abuse and fear from her first husband, who might have played a role in screwing up her relationships with men, making her afraid to really settle down. I think that backstory helps with giving her a reason for her personality, which I might not totally love, and makes her more complex.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if Brett is a representation of Hemingway's anti-feminism. She has a very seductive quality to her, that's true, but she doesn't seem to fit any archetype except her own. She is a seducer, and she doesn't know it. I'm not even sure she realizes the extent of the power she has over men, or the wreckage she leaves as a result. It's hard to blame her too much though, since she seems clueless to this. It's reasonable not to like her, but you can hardly blame her
ReplyDeleteTed she totally realizes the extent of the power she has over men... She fully recognizes that men are attracted to her and admits to Jake that she likes to collect them. Besides that, she feels really badly about the way she leaves Romero but understands that being with him would be the wrong thing to do. Even with Cohn she took to San Sebastian because it would "be good for him", and when they come back she expects him to act differently. She's not at all clueless.
DeleteI observed the same thing--girls hated Brett in our class, too. I was sympathetic with her though, and I don't really find her hate-worthy (but I am easily charmed). I think living the lifestyle she lives just makes it easy for her to not give a damn about other people's feelings, and she might expect a lot out of Jake especially, but how would she know to expect any less? With her history with men, it seems that she's always been charming and good-looking, so it's doubtful that she's even encountered having to depend on herself. Maybe this is the reason she can be so independent? She doesn't have to take care of herself that much because she effortlessly charms people into doing it for her. She doesn't even have to try to manipulate people. I'm a little jealous, and I think that jealousy is what makes her unlikable for some. It's possible that this is why we don't see her interacting with other women--they aren't as nice to her, so she doesn't have much reason to spend time with them.
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