Editing Internet Texts/Women in Hemingway's fiction/The influence of Hemingway's life on his portrayal of women

The person who presumably played the key role in shaping Hemingway’s view on women was the first and for a long time the most important female in his life, namely his mother, Grace Hemingway. Her influence is, however, negative. According to Major General Charles T. Lanham, Hemingway’s comrade-in-arms, “he always referred to his mother as ‘that bitch’”. As Kert notes, Hemingway saw his mother as a “domineering shrew” who is to blame for her husband’s suicide. His personal experiences resulted in later difficulties with creating female characters and led him to focus on masculinity as he was determined never to be dominated by a woman, as his father was. The hatred for his mother is thus believed to be visible in his negative portrayal of strong female characters, often referred to by critics as Hemingway’s “bitches”, best exemplified by Margaret Macomber in “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber”.

Ernest Hemingway with Family, 1905

Margot, however, may not necessarily be the embodiment of Hemingway’s prejudice against strong women displaying masculine features, but a reflection of a real-life person, Jane Mason. Jane was a beautiful, twenty-two years old woman and Hemingway’s lover. Their affair did not last long and although at first Hemingway was very attracted to Jane, he later called her “the worst bitch [he] knew”.

Lady Brett Ashley is another heroine inspired by one of Hemingway’s companions, Lady Duff Twysden whom he met in Paris. Lady Duff had all the characteristics of a New Woman. She was educated, accomplished and sexually liberated as she not only used to flirt with men who were infatuated with her, but was even divorced by her husband because of her adultery. Many men were drawn to Lady Duff, both due to her appearance and her personality, and Hemingway was one of them. As strong and dominating women are usually seen as depicted in a negative way, it is assumed that the ones who were idealised by Hemingway must have been weak and submissive. These are the Hemingway’s “girls”. As it is commonly believed, not only were such perfect female characters willing to fulfil men’s wishes, but they also prioritised them over their own needs. Hence, men’s dominance and thus masculinity was not at stake. Such a portrayal of women was influenced by the author’s real-life companions as well.

Catherine Barkley from A Farewell to Arms, who is seen as an example of a perfect woman, was inspired by Agnes von Kurowsky, a Red Cross nurse who cared for Hemingway after he had been wounded during the First World War and who was his first love. Agnes was beautiful and talented, but also seven years older than Hemingway.

Interestingly, Maria, the heroine of For Whom the Bell Tolls, whose character resembles that of Catherine’s, was also inspired by a nurse, this time not an American, but a “lovely, dignified young Spanish nurse” whom Hemingway met in 1938.

Hemingway’s peculiar representation of women and his biography led some critics to believe that he, in fact, was antagonistic towards women in his real life as well. One of Hemingway’s friends, Pete Lanham said that “Ernest hated all women except the one who was currently a good sex partner”; the truth, however, could be different. He liked many women, but was unable to make concessions essential for a relationship to be successful , which is proved by his divorces. His views on relationships were, indeed, cynical. “The best approach to women was to compliment them, he wrote, make love to them and then keep them off-guard”. Consequently, his marriages, initially satisfying, were anything but solid. Hemingway strove to assert his masculine dominance since “[e]quality in a relationship had no appeal for him”. As, paradoxically, his wives were not acquiescent and always willing to submit, his marriages were doomed to failure. Furthermore, Hemingway was bound to become bored or even abusive of his partners relatively quickly and frequently searched for fulfilment in extramarital affairs which was the main cause of his first two divorces.

Ernest Hemingway with a bull, Spain, 1927

Furthermore, Hemingway is commonly known for his concern with masculinity not only in his fiction, but also in his personal life as he endeavoured to create a public image of himself as a powerful and masculine man. Such interests may have stemmed from his fascination with Spain known for its bull fights and macho culture and resulted in his preoccupation with the portrayal of “true men”. Hemingway’s hero, also known as the “code hero” was a strong, courageous and honourable man who lived in accordance with his own moral code. It is thus assumed that for a balance to be kept, women had to be depicted as weak and submissive. However, his public image, so scrupulously built, is often believed not to be true, but only to serve as a suppression of Hemingway’s real, sensitive nature. His preoccupation with masculinity in fiction may thus be seen as an attempt to compensate for what he himself lacked as a man. At the same time, being concerned about his own gender identity sparked his interest in androgyny and may have caused him to be more sympathetic to, rather than prejudiced against, women who combined both feminine and masculine features.

Masculinity is, undeniably, one of the main themes in Hemingway’s texts; emasculation and the shift in gender roles are, however, prevalent as well. What contributed to his concern with these themes are the historical and cultural changes of the twentieth century. The World Wars left many men crippled and thus unable to return to their pre-war way of life, more often than not they were left at the mercy of women who had to assume their responsibilities. This resulted in men’s being perceived as even more feminine. Jake Barnes from The Sun Also Rises is a perfect example of how war can literally emasculate men. Besides, the movement for emancipation and gender equality added to men’s insecurities. Hemingway’s alleged prejudice against dominant female characters may have stemmed from the fear of effeminacy, the same anxiety which led many male critics to disapprove of women’s suffrage as they believed it to be the reason why men are no longer as manly as they used to be. The tensions in American society are presented in his fiction by means of the combination of masculine and feminine features in his characters or the shift of gender roles. Interestingly enough, as Fiedler argues, these portrayals are the most successful for once Hemingway transfers male features onto his female characters, they become much more reliable than the embodiments of either his fantasies or prejudices.

As it has been presented, the correspondence between Hemingway’s biography and his narratives is hard to deny. His personal life appears to be intertwined with his fiction and it certainly played a vital role in shaping his writing and his creation of fictional characters as well as provided him with inspiration. Nonetheless, relying too much on the author’s biography while analysing his works may be extremely misleading and prevent the reader from detecting their complexity. In the case of Hemingway and his presentation of women, it is particularly deceiving since the above mentioned parallels seem to justify analysing his fiction in relation to his personal experiences. Obviously, it may be assumed that his heroines are inspired by real-life women, but they are not necessarily their true reflections. Moreover, claiming that they are presented in a negative way only because Hemingway is believed to have had traditional, or even sexist, views on gender roles is equal to denying him imagination, creativity and the ability to separate his fiction from his private life.