A Critical Analysis of Representations of Gender in Three Postmodernist Texts- Lolita, Wide Sargasso Sea and the Passion of New Eve. Essay Example
A Critical Analysis of Representations of Gender in Three Postmodernist texts- Lolita, Wide Sargasso Sea and The Passion of New Eve.
When one thinks of gender within fiction, it is easy to think of the basic male-female divide, where the male protagonist rescues the female protagonist from whatever perils she faces throughout her story. However, postmodernism brought a whole new flavour to the question of gender within literature. As this essay will show, when one begins to scratch the surface of postmodern literature, the age-old literature theme of gender is shown to be much more complicated and ambiguous than previous literary movements portrayed it to be. Just as postmodernism is complicated and subjective, gender in a postmodern text is hard to define or understand.
In Lolita, the reader knows only the point of view of an adult male paedophile preying on a young girl. Whilst it may at first seem obvious who the reader will side with, it is all too easy to sympathise with Humbert as the novel progresses. In addition, the characters of Wide Sargasso Sea allow the reader to further see the ramifications of gender within an earlier postcolonial setting. The Passion of New Eve blurs the lines of the theme of gender, making it seem much less like polar opposites of black and white or male and female, and much more like a spectrum of human beings- one that must be looked at as a whole to appreciate either gender. It is felt that this is the key message of this book- as Vallorani (1994) states, “[The Passion of New Eve] is therefore, literally, a gender novel.” (pg. 369)
The representation of the male gender in Lolita is interesting. The only real insight that the reader gets into the male psyche is through Humbert, the protagonist and narrator of the story. The only other major male characters in the story are Clare Quilty and the Russian taxi driver. Even though Humbert’s thoughts and actions are morally debauched, the reader’s only window into his world is
When one thinks of gender within fiction, it is easy to think of the basic male-female divide, where the male protagonist rescues the female protagonist from whatever perils she faces throughout her story. However, postmodernism brought a whole new flavour to the question of gender within literature. As this essay will show, when one begins to scratch the surface of postmodern literature, the age-old literature theme of gender is shown to be much more complicated and ambiguous than previous literary movements portrayed it to be. Just as postmodernism is complicated and subjective, gender in a postmodern text is hard to define or understand.
In Lolita, the reader knows only the point of view of an adult male paedophile preying on a young girl. Whilst it may at first seem obvious who the reader will side with, it is all too easy to sympathise with Humbert as the novel progresses. In addition, the characters of Wide Sargasso Sea allow the reader to further see the ramifications of gender within an earlier postcolonial setting. The Passion of New Eve blurs the lines of the theme of gender, making it seem much less like polar opposites of black and white or male and female, and much more like a spectrum of human beings- one that must be looked at as a whole to appreciate either gender. It is felt that this is the key message of this book- as Vallorani (1994) states, “[The Passion of New Eve] is therefore, literally, a gender novel.” (pg. 369)
The representation of the male gender in Lolita is interesting. The only real insight that the reader gets into the male psyche is through Humbert, the protagonist and narrator of the story. The only other major male characters in the story are Clare Quilty and the Russian taxi driver. Even though Humbert’s thoughts and actions are morally debauched, the reader’s only window into his world is