A Feminist Alternative to Fetterleys Criticism of A Farewell to Arms :: Farewell Arms Essays

A Feminist Alternative to Fetterleys Criticism of A Farewell to Arms After finishing A Farewell to Arms, I found it difficult to reconcile Judith Fetterleys libber attack of the novel with my let personal opinions. I agree that Hemingway does kick women to the curb in his word-painting of Catherine, but my reasons for pinning this crime on Hemingway are different from hers. Although she heart and soul well, Fetterley makes the ridiculous take away that by portraying Catherine as an angelic, selflessly amiable woman to end all women, Hemingway disguises misogynistic attitudes and a deep-seeded hatred towards the XX chromosome. This claim is not supported by the text. If we look at Hemingway through the electron lens of his own words, we find that his misogyny does not spring from a too good to be confessedly portrait of Catherine, but rather in his tendency to cast her down into the dirt-Catherine is a dependent, baby-manufacturing golf hole that stifles Lieutenant total h eat Poor, poor dear Cat. And this was the price you paid for sleeping together. This was the end of the trap (320). It is his penchant for sex and his need for womanly comfort that keeps Henry advance back to Catherine, not some notion of love or true connection. This is Hemingways misogyny, however unintentional, unmasked. But to get a true sense of this anti-Fetterley feminist view of the novel, it is important too look at the specifics of Hemingways construction of Catherine-facts that contribute in direct opposition to Fetterleys stated attacks. First of all, Catherine is not Fetterleys unequalled and unattainable goddess-she is an object in Henrys universe, a feast of sensations but energy more. She is akin to good food and good drink I was made to eat. My God, yes. tucker out and drink and sleep with Catherine (233). Indeed, Henrys thoughts about Catherine, both when he is at the effort or by her side, mingle with longings for good wine and reflections on princely mea ls. In Henrys world, a good Capri would be nice, a nice swelling of cheese would be grand, and sleeping with Catherine would be sublime. These things all equate to the pleasure of basic human needs. Every now and then, Henry feels a mussitation in his loins-a periodic hunger for the cheese between Catherines legs. Hemingway dissolves Catherine into the least park denominator-the object, devoid of meaning or real importance (when Henry isnt hungry).