Ernest Hemingway is praised for his mastery of language and descriptions, but his flaws are prevalent in his depiction of female characters consistently tainted by his masculine ideals. In his novel A Farewell to Arms, his female characters are presented as subordinate objects, helpless without a man at their side. The female lead, Catherine Barkley, is used as a major plot element for the development of the main character, but she is portrayed as a desperate and fragile woman, making her a representation of sexist beliefs. Throughout the story, her ultimate goal was to be in love and loved by Frédéric Henry, the main protagonist. She sacrificed much of herself for the promise of being with him. However, Henry only saw her as an escape from his problems and used her as a distraction to avoid his problems throughout the novel. In this way, Hemingway sought to create a picturesque relationship between a man and a woman, but in doing so he ignored feminist ideology to create his own perfect woman. Hemingway's masculine vision of "the perfect woman", exemplified in A Farewell to Arms by Catherine Barkley's weak and underdeveloped character, was the product of his failures with the women in his life and his quintessential vision of role of woman towards man. to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Hemingway's female paragons for men were characterized by weak traits, as shown by Catherine. According to Hemingway's ideals, a perfect woman is one who is "unduly shy, whose posture of trembling helplessness is simply a way of disguising what she…should want" (Fetterley 58). That said, women act weakly in order to get what they “should want,” which is a man. This ideal emphasizes that a woman's ultimate goal should be to have a man so that she no longer feels helpless. She will be able to serve a purpose with a man by her side and so she will have to act accordingly to get a man. When Hemingway wrote to Catherine to explain: “You are my religion. You are all I have,” he supports the idea that women want and need men by their side (Hemingway 116). Catherine is the portrait of this ideal woman because, as this quote shows, she willingly sacrifices herself to devote herself to Henry, like a religion where one sacrifices oneself for a god. Henry is able to act as her knight in shining armor and ultimately save her from herself because, as she has shown, she is nothing without him. Many humiliating traits, including helplessness and submission, were shown in Catherine's character to reflect Hemingway's model. He described that women need a man to rely on and in turn, they don't mind being subordinate. Hemingway made Catherine weak and submissive in order to satisfy his fantasy since the modern women in his life could not meet these standards. Hemingway tried to convey Catherine with purity by giving her redeeming qualities that reflected feminine concepts, but her submissive traits ultimately made her seem hopeless. . Hemingway describes Catherine as a hard-working nurse and even explains that she was once engaged. Being single reinforces her image of purity even as she mourns the death of her fiancé. Furthermore, being a nurse subjects her to the status of a noble woman always dressed in white. The image of purity is supported by this white outfit because it serves as a “symbol of her purity” (Recla 14). Recla notes: “Women constantly reassure their men bysaying that they are good girls and that they are normal. Catherine Barkley wants to be the good wife and other half of Frederick” (Recla 21). She was always trying to prove to Henry that she was a "good girl", which made her noble but desperate to be accepted by Henry. This is shown when she says, “I know I made trouble now. But haven't I always been a good girl until now? (Hemingway 138). Her constant pursuit of Henry makes readers see her as desperate rather than pure as Hemingway wanted. She feels she must prove her worth to Henry, which eliminates her "good girl" purity and highlights her constantly needy nature. Catherine puts all her energy into pleasing Henry and disregards his well-being, as shown when she works too much during night shifts just to be with Henry. This makes her appear obsessed with winning Henry's affections while she neglects his well-being to be with him. Although the meter emphasizes that this is intended to create a romantic mood, it demeans Catherine to a mere prop for the progression of the romance. So, even with this conjecture, Catherine symbolizes the masculine ideal of a woman who views women as objects of affection and distraction whose purpose is to sacrifice herself for men. Although Hemingway used pure qualities to characterize Catherine, her desperation and submission made her an idealized woman according to his masculine vision. Catherine's most important trait, being submissive to Henry in order to get his attention, robbed her of any individuality she had. Catherine wanted to be with Henry so she gave up everything she knew to focus only on him. She easily gave up her own will, as Hemingway shows: "I want what you want. There is no more me. Just what you want." (Hemingway 106). Catherine gave up the ability to make her own choices and promised to obey Henry. This submission made her dependent on Henry's will and even proved that she considered herself inferior to him. Additionally, Hemingway writes that Catherine always wanted to be associated with Henry: “There is no me. I am you. Do not create a separate self” (Hemmingway 115). Catherine sacrificed herself and her individuality when she said “there is no me.” She did not view herself as her own person, but rather as Henry's property. Additionally, she preferred to be referred to as "we", which supports the idea that she only wanted to be with Henry. She was content to give up her individuality in hopes of receiving Henry's love. This submission gave Henry complete control over Catherine, reflecting another of Hemingway's ideals in a woman. Another flaw in Hemingway's portrayal of Catherine was that he did not fully develop her as a character. Much of Catherine's personality was based on the general image of women which included stereotypes and gender roles. Other traits had to be interpreted by the reader rather than having a clear understanding of his character. Recla states, “Catherine Barkley's appearance is rarely described” and “the lack of detail about Catherine Barkley's appearance contributes to creating a superficial half-portrait of a woman” (Recla 16). The reader was left to assume a lot about Catherine's appearance and personality because we didn't get a glimpse into her thoughts and opinions. Additionally, since Henry was the narrator and our window into Catherine's character, his skewed point of view only provided a "superficial" view of her. He never described her thoughts or specific traits and only emphasized her beauty and beauty. Recla also emphasizes “characters who maintain specific gender roles, that of provider man and nurturer woman” (Recla 25). Using generalized female roles to characterize Catherine, she had no distinctive features separating her from the ordinary woman. In turn, she was a stereotypical woman who wanted to be in love. Catherine was not a fully developed character due to Hemingway's use of gender roles and stereotypes which contributed to her poor portrayal. Catherine's portrayal is heavily based on Hemingway's masculine values ​​because his negative encounters with women inspired him to create a woman who expressed his ideal standards. Hemingway had many wives and affairs, with some of his affairs lasting longer than his marriages. Thus, Hemingway now had a positive view of women in general, they were replaceable at best and good distractions. Sanderson states, “Hemingway's fictional women could be seen as his wishful transformation of the modern woman” (Sanderson 176). Hemingway incorporated the ideals he wanted in a woman in order to create his own perfect woman, because the women in his life did not meet these standards. Thus, his female characters turned into “wishful thinking,” since the women in his life left bad impressions on him. For example, Sanderson describes: "His father's suicide... reminded him of the failure of his parents' marriage, a failure that Hemingway blamed on his mother's bullying and his father's inability to stand up to him » (Sanderson 182). His mother's authoritarian attitude, which caused his father's disappearance, made Hemmingway dislike power in women. Instead, he believed the male should be dominant and in control of the relationship. This made him want a weak, dependent woman who obeyed male authority. These ideas, among many others, are reflected in Catherine to make her the ideal woman in Hemingway's eyes. The women in his life were not able to satisfy what he glorified as feminine, so he instead integrated his ideal traits into Catherine. One explanation for why Hemingway portrayed women so poorly could be because he had not yet grasped the feminine concept of womanhood. Hemingway had endured a lot of heartache in his love life and he did not look kindly on strong women, as shown by his negative attitude towards his mother. His failed marriages prompted him to develop ideas about what a woman should be rather than what she can be. By favoring women's weak traits so that men could take control, Hemingway began to form his masculine ideal by neglecting the feminine approach. This resulted in his inaccurate portrayals of women. Catherine Barkly's simplistic features confirm that Hemingway did not yet know how to create a real female character. Recla states, “Hemingway had not yet developed the understanding of the feminine that he needed to truly create a complex characterization of Catherine Barkley” (Recla 15). His use of generalized roles and flat submissive traits confirms that Hemingway did not yet know how to portray a woman. Instead, he used the company's portrait since he couldn't develop his own. However, this societal vision ended up making Catherine fragile and submissive. He was unable to create a well-rounded and strong character because he did not appreciate the female point of view, which resulted in a negative portrayal of Catherine Barkley. Hemingway used his masculine ideas of the ideal woman to create Catherine because he did not yet understand the female perspective. In summary, Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms 45879., 2002