Explore Barker's Representation of Women in Barker's Regeneration
Explore Barker's presentation of women in "Regeneration".
Regeneration is a novel largely based upon the male experience of war , however Barker's use of predominantly confident and modern women represents the seismic effects the war had on the female population, while also exploring how the war was an emasculating experience for men. As the jingoistic illusions of what war was like were weakened by the harsh realities of war for the men who signed up to fight, they began taking on more maternal roles, whereas, some women transformed into independent strong-minded individuals, taking on traditional male roles such as working in munitions. Barker has chosen to focus strongly on the roles of women, as she wants to show how they experienced World War One, as their role is sometimes obscured in literature because they did not have direct contact with the enemy. The fact that Barker has used very dominant women suggests that they are important to her, and she certainly explores deeper than 'girls' as entertainers for soldiers, sweethearts and those who handed out white feathers to young men who had not enlisted.
However contrasting with the rest of the female characters the VADs are the only women who are in traditional domestic roles and have typical female attributes. Initially we are introduced to the VAD'S (Voluntary Aid Detatchment) when they rush over to Burns who is being violently sick. This is at the very beginning of the novel, Barker uses this structure to show how the roles of women changed, by later in the novel devolping other characters who have dramatically changed lifestyles since the war began.
'A Couple of VADs ran across to him, clucking, fussing, flapping ineffectually at his tunic with a napkin, until eventually they had the sense to get him out of the room.'
Barker uses figurative language to compare the VADs to chickens, as if they were useless creatures, simply placed to make a fuss over people and unnecessarily panic. This imagery is
Regeneration is a novel largely based upon the male experience of war , however Barker's use of predominantly confident and modern women represents the seismic effects the war had on the female population, while also exploring how the war was an emasculating experience for men. As the jingoistic illusions of what war was like were weakened by the harsh realities of war for the men who signed up to fight, they began taking on more maternal roles, whereas, some women transformed into independent strong-minded individuals, taking on traditional male roles such as working in munitions. Barker has chosen to focus strongly on the roles of women, as she wants to show how they experienced World War One, as their role is sometimes obscured in literature because they did not have direct contact with the enemy. The fact that Barker has used very dominant women suggests that they are important to her, and she certainly explores deeper than 'girls' as entertainers for soldiers, sweethearts and those who handed out white feathers to young men who had not enlisted.
However contrasting with the rest of the female characters the VADs are the only women who are in traditional domestic roles and have typical female attributes. Initially we are introduced to the VAD'S (Voluntary Aid Detatchment) when they rush over to Burns who is being violently sick. This is at the very beginning of the novel, Barker uses this structure to show how the roles of women changed, by later in the novel devolping other characters who have dramatically changed lifestyles since the war began.
'A Couple of VADs ran across to him, clucking, fussing, flapping ineffectually at his tunic with a napkin, until eventually they had the sense to get him out of the room.'
Barker uses figurative language to compare the VADs to chickens, as if they were useless creatures, simply placed to make a fuss over people and unnecessarily panic. This imagery is