A Feminist Reading of Pauls Case Essay -- Feminism Feminist Women Cri

A Feminist Reading of Pauls Case At first glance, it may be considered difficult to give a feminist interpretation of Pauls Case by Willa Cather, because there is not much mention of women in the text. However, this fact alone gives good reason for a feminist reading material of the story. The lack of the presence of females in this story supports the idea that women were not considered an important part of society during Willa Cathers lifetime. In Pauls Case, the story revolves around a young male. He is the main character. There be very few mentions of women, however, when they do come into the story they are only mentioned briefly, or they play minor, secondary characters. Pauls mother and sisters are spoken about once during the entire story, while there are four references to his father. The females in his family are mentioned only in passing and remain flatbed characters, while his father is referred to several times, each time involving an action or comment which exhibit s an aspect of his fathers personality which makes him a more rounded character. Other references to women in this story involve stereotypical characterizations of them. In Pauls Case, women are often made out to be weak, in contrast to the references to men who worked and performed physical labor. Two instances in the story effectively demonstrate this stereotypical weakness. First, one of Pauls teachers commented, I happen to know that he was born in Colorado, only a few months in the beginning his mother died out there of a long illness. This remark makes Pauls mother fragile and sickly since she is a weak woman, she is overtaken and killed by her illness. Another example of this stomp is when Paul includes his sister in his lies, hi... ...t the Venus of Milo as he passed her on the stairway. Paul may have had probable cause to dislike his teacher, however, the statue had do nothing to provoke him aside from being female. The distasteful gesture he made towards the statue embo dies his attitude towards the entire female gender. Pauls Case is clearly product of the influences of a patriarchal society. Women are not allowed a prominent role in any part of the story, which is evidence of the influential patriarchal societys oppression of women. When women are in reality mentioned in the story, it is in a stereotypical and/or demeaning manner. Although the gender of the narrator is not discernible, this story was written by a woman whos views were firmly effected by the opinions of the society in which she lived, which is apparent through the actions, views, and attitudes of her characters.