On Hemingway Female
1. Introduction
Through a ries of critical views of the female image of Hemingway's, This paper analyzes Hemingway's veral typical female image, proving that Hemingway has a really deep explanation in the women in his creation process. And we can also know the female aspect in the social context of that time, It reflects Hemingway's writing is bad on their own creative consciousness and understanding of human nature to shape one and another bright female image. His creative talents and his outlook of women is showed at the same time.
2. Hemingway's female image became the focus of critics
Hemingway is also called "male chauvinist pigs" and "feminist supporters," In fact, this is largely a wishful thinking of the critics. In "The Art of Short Stories," Hemingway wrote ," Female characters are the most difficult to deal with. But when someone prent the critic
ism that there is no such woman you wrote, you do not worry about it. It just shows that your female characters are unlike their female characters." It is becau of his strong feminist consciousness and the focus of female characters, the creation is so difficult. Looking at the Hemingway 's major works, from the early short stories, until the "The Old Man and the Sea", it is not difficult to find writers’ women consciousness. This awareness has its consistency ,not changing becau of the different time, location and person. And the consistency rightly shows contradiction of writer’s dealing with the female characters. Whether it is "a pig" or "Daddy Hemingway" or partial in the view, his female characters for Hemingway is shaped only according to their own creative consciousness and purpo and his grasp of human nature, and there are no extreme side. The image of women in Hemingway‘s works reflects his concepts of the role and understanding of women, all of the are cloly linked with his thoughts, the life history and the culture of that era.
2.1 Criticism of Hemingway’ s works’ smearing and being hostile to female images
It is well known that Hemingway in the United States has an important position in the literary history, his contribution to American literature is an indisputable fact, However, the image of Hemingway's female critics has been aroud heated arguments, and sometimes Hemingway's attitudes to women are the focus in the critic world.
A considerable number of critics thinks that Hemingway was a male chauvinist, in respon to it, his work is more of a "tough guy" image, and a kind of discrimination against women in his eyes. After the ri of feminism, Hemingway's female characters suffered more prai or blame. Some activists have not been satisfied with the so-called macho and dismisd it as "misogyny complex" or even wor, a "male chauvinist pigs".
Some critics and biographers tend to excavate materials from the private life of Ernest Hemingway, interpreting their work, analyzing the figures. This ems quite natural to come to the conclusion of Hemingway’s being hatred of women. He has repeatedly accud his mother as "she is a bitch," "That bitch!" For a woman giving his life and a love, this is indeed an insult to be added. He has not a happy marriage relationship. Hemi
ngway had attacked Fitzgerald’s wife Zelda that he was jealous Fitzgerald’s talents to interfere his writing process. This is also listed as an example of his hostility toward women. Won him the Nobel Prize in Literature, "The Old Man and the Sea" is obviously a work concerning about the world of men - the book actually has no female role. His male characters owned "grace under pressure" and is a"tough guy", while female characters often em to be as a foil or the opposite existence. Therefore, Edmund Wilson ,as the reprentative of part of the critics, pointed out the people in Hemingway’s works as "male chauvinist pigs."
2.2 Hemingway’s women image tend to feminist
Robert. Kelur and other critics took Albright. Anshly, Maria and other female characters as the basis that: Hemingway is a feminist writer. His work has a strong feminist tendencies. Many female characters should not have been cast aside, but should be sympathetic to, even admirable. This view has been affirmation for the first time to the repeatedly ignored or disparaged female characters of Hemingway's and certainly refresh
es, and it has its unique feature. In his novels, there is not lack of feminist consciousness of Hemingway, and veral of them were launched from the female consciousness. Hemingway also shows his own feelings in shaping their women characters on different occasions at different times. "I always thought that living in the same rigid criteria men is much easier than women. Neither a man will be like a woman to follow so rigid and strict guidelines, nor to imagine a man himlf like a woman having the same good criteria, unless a real effort to do. "If there is no women consciousness , how to understand women?
3. Analysis of the female image in Hemingway’s works
3.1 Caus of the Female Image
As an outstanding reprentative of "Lost Generation", Hemingway's distinguished position in literary world in the United States and his contribution to the development of American literature has been recorded in history. Hemingway’s image of women is the fragment and the silhouette of the cour of whole Western civilization, which takes male
power as the axis. It is also an exact reproduction of literary works. Hemingway’s contradictory views on women are formed under the influence of cultural background and life experiences in that era, and his views on women has played a huge impact on his life and art.
Hemingway lived in the end of 19th century and mid-20th century, this particular turn of the old and new era of cultural ethos and historical events played a very important role in Hemingway's values, world views and concepts of the formation of women. As thousands of years of patriarchal culture, heritage, people's consciousness is invisibly influenced by the patriarchal culture, Hemingway is a writer with a strong n of male subject, The independence of women he advocated is permitted within the scope of men, and doesn’t damage the main location. He truly works on women's living conditions, emotional needs, values, and expression. He shows his understanding and support to what the women required including female equality, freedom, liberation, requiring the same right to education, employment, voting rights and this requirements reflect the need of human civilization. Although the patriarchal culture has been on the wane, but veral thousand
years of cultural domination and influence, everyone of patriarchal culture has "collective unconscious". Hemingway could not completely give up men stand. Though he supported women's liberation movement and enjoy the independent, brave woman, he was afraid of the result women liberation movement developed into, such as the formation of female supremacy, female domination male. so he thinks the right women requested should not threaten the dignity and the authority of men,. It is in this time under the influence of cultural background, Hemingway’s views of women have become so complex and contradictory.
