Rancidness, pain, and confusion : Brett Ashley and the lack of resolution in The Sun Also Rises
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2003
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Haverford College. Department of English
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Thesis
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Award
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eng
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Abstract
In my thesis, I consider common critical readings of The Sun Also Rises, which attribute a sense of resolution and catharsis to the novel's ending and, in the process, propound a reductive reading of Lady Brett Ashley as a villain whom Jake Barnes finally banishes. I suggest that then ending does not provide resolution but, instead, reflects Jake's still-conflicted recognition that a union with Brett is impossible, and I assert that Hemingway is depicting a historical moment, right after World War I, of transition and crisis in gender relations. I claim, moreover, that Brett is a crucial and even admirable character, because of her vitality and her willingness to explore a transitional moment in gender connections and to actively perform interesting gender roles.