An Object Will Always be an Outsider Annalia Kate Hopper College

Ernest Hemingway’s work has been largely criticized for its sexist undertones, and in The Sun Also Rises the character of Brett Ashley is the perfect example of misogyny. Helene Cixous in “The Laugh of the Medusa” writes about how feminism is owning one’s own womanly sexuality. At first glance Brett is the perfect example of Cixous’s brand of feminism because the reader sees how her beauty and charm control all the men around her especially Jake and Cohn, but her sexuality also controls Brett herself. She refuses to be with Jake, who it seems she actually loves, due to his impotence, and is unwilling to give up sex for love. Despite the fact Brett is the center of attention, her “manly acts” make her an outsider to men and women alike, effectively enslaving Brett to her own worldly desires and consequently unhappiness.

Brett is what literary theorists would call a “Hemingway Hero,” the crucial problem being that she’s a woman. In this specific text, the auxiliary example of womanhood in The Sun Also Rises is a literary foil to Brett, Cohn’s girlfriend Frances, of which Jake says, “her attitude toward Robert changed from one of careless possession and exploitation to the absolute determination that he should marry her” (13)....