Nurse Ratched Essay

The majority of the female characters in the novel are portrayed as the antagonists, with the exception of the prostitutes, and could be labelled as having ‘emasculating female authority’. Feminists would argue that Ken Kesey’s portrayal of Nurse Ratched in particular is misogynistic and critics would question why the character is negatively portrayed despite her role as an authority figure in helping patients and keeping order. This negative portrayal of women with power and authority may mirror the general feeling amongst men in 1960s America during the time when the feminist movement focused on workforce inequality such as limited leadership opportunities and lower paid salary. Kesey’s portrayal suggests that women cannot gain authority

Her bag is described as ‘a bag shape of a tool box’ that had ‘no compact or lipstick or woman stuff’. The phrase ‘toolbox’ supports the notion that genders differ due to biology1 since the character has to resort to using the power that her job title offers, like using ‘tiny pills’, ‘needles’ and ‘forceps’, in order to establish control over a male-only institute. There is a constant reference to the character’s bosom and the writer uses McMurphy, the embodiment of masculinity, to observe how ‘she did her best to conceal but never could’. Kesey also uses Bromden’s view to state that a ‘mistake’ was made on putting those ‘big, womanly breast’ and ‘you can see how bitter she is about it’ thus it highlights that the character’s greatest weakness is her feminine trait, suggesting that women are not capable of authority unless they suppress their femininity to a degree. This is further reinforced at the end of the novel when Mcmurphy tears the nurse’s uniform down the front exposing her breasts that were ‘bigger than anybody had ever even imagined’, therefore enforcing her femininity. Kesey demonstrates how Nurse Ratched loses her power after this because the patients who had voluntarily committed decide to leave and even the Chief escapes. On the other hand, Nurse Ratched is still viewed as one of the most powerful characters in the novel and through a more in-depth analysis it is suggested that she is a microcosm for a universal force of