Sexual Awakening in The Wind Blows and The Virgin and the Gipsy

Sexual Awakening in The Wind Blows and The Virgin and the Gipsy

The sexual awakening in the short story "The Wind Blows " and in the novella "The Virgin and the Gipsy" is very similar in a number of ways. In both works, young women on the brink of womanhood endeavor to attain full maturity in a number of ways. Both stories portray the mental confusion and general chaos the women struggle against in their quest for awakening, although the depth and structure of these works are markedly different. The reasons for this are obvious; one of the stories is a novella, and the other, a short story. The author of the novella, "The Virgin and the Gipsy" is able to describe the journey of the female protagonist in much greater detail and over a longer period of time, as opposed to the short story. The writer of the short story "The Wind Blows", because of its shorter nature, is able to experiment in repetitive words and a short, gasping sentence structure which allows the reader to "feel" what Matilda feels, "The wind, the wind. It's frightening to be here in her room by herself. The bed, the mirror, the white jug and basin gleam like the sky outside. It's the bed that is frightening." (56). Aside from structural differences, the essences of both stories are the same. The young women are changing and have to cope with a new role in life.

Both works shed light on the turbulent and confusing new world that these awakening young women find themselves in. Because of the changes that the girls' are undergoing, it is a time of rediscovery, both of the world, as well as and especially of themselves. There is general confusion in the air, characterized in "The Wind Blows" by the wind itself. "In waves, in clouds, in big round...

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...escribe protagonists who, in order to reassess their own lives, redefine themselves through various ways. Two of the most obvious ways are rebellion against perceived negativity and attraction to men of control and power aid in this process. In both stories, the men to whom the protagonists were attracted to were commanding figures, confident in their power and place in society. The girls seemed to draw upon this power and use it for themselves, in their quest for definition. Aside from fundamental differences in structure, i. e. of a novella and short story, both works dealt with the compelling subject of "awakening sexuality" in a very illuminating way.

Bibliography:

WORKS CITED

LAWRENCE, D. H. THE VIRGIN AND THE GIPSY. NEW YORK; VINTAGE BOOKS, 1992

WIEBE, RUDY. THE STORY-MAKERS. TORONTO; GAGE PUBLISHING, 1987