In “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber,” Ernest Hemingway, an early twentieth-century modernist, uses an African safari to depict marital relations between the wealthy, and deeply unhappy, Francis and Margaret Macomber. Here, Hemingway applies his first-hand knowledge of a safari to color the experiences of the Macombers, using key details from his travels to enrich the setting. In “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber”, Hemingway effectively uses the safari setting to parallel the marriage between Francis and Margaret “Margot” Macomber in its depiction of inaccurate expectations, a struggle for dominance, and use of predator-like actions in an attempt to maintain power. Much like their expectations for marriage, the Macomber’s idealized expectations for the safari come from what they have seen in the western world. This can largely be seen through Francis Macomber’s choice of wardrobe, as “He was dressed in the same sort of safari clothes that Wilson wore…” (1). Wilson is previously depicted as the exact type …show more content…
Mrs. Macomber’s cheating on her husband with Robert Wilson following the incident with the lion exemplifies this. In order to catch her ‘prey’, in this case to maintain power over her husband, Margaret Macomber leaves in the night and initiates intercourse with the ultra-masculine Robert Wilson, who represents all the qualities her husband lacks. Like a lion on the prowl, Margot takes any chance she has to gain the upper hand. As her husband questions following her return from the affair, “You don’t wait long when you have an advantage, do you?” (12). From this, one can infer that this is not the first time Margaret Macomber has used her sexuality, or her beauty for that matter, to gain the upper hand in the relationship. By doing so, Mrs. Macomber is able to wound her husband’s pride, making him more susceptible to her dominant
As the story begins, the character of the husband has a negative personality. He lacks compassion, is narrow-minded, and is jealous of his wife’s friendship with a blind man named Robert. His constantly complains that “a blind man in my house was not something [he looked] forward to” (362). The close outside friendship between the narrator’s wife and Robert provokes his insecurities. This friendship has lasted for ten years and during those years, they have exchanged countless tapes regarding experiences they have gone through. Because of this, her husband feels “she [has] told him everything or it so it seemed” (363) about their relationship.
Francis Macomber is a thirty-five years old man, on an African safari. He is also there with his wife he is feminine as well as a coward. Macomber is considered a coward because when faced with his first lion, he bolted and fled, increasing hatred from his wife. She has been disapproving of him for a while. She is basically a snake in the grass and cheats on Macomber. Macomber decides to have a brave moment in his life for a chance and in the process, is killed. Gender roles and masculinity played a major part in the story; whether, it was Margot or Frances Macomber, and even more.
This essay explores the blurring of gender roles within Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Angela Carter’s The Lady of the House of Love, focusing on the presentation of a sexually assertive female and its threat to the patriarchal society, and the duality of the female characters as they are presented as enticing and thrilling, but also dangerous and somewhat repulsive.
In Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s bodies of work, Gilman highlights scenarios exploring traditional interrelations between man and woman while subtexting the necessity for a reevaluation of the paradigms governing these relations. In both of Gilman’s short stories, “The Yellow Wallpaper” and “Turned”, women are victimized, subjected and mistreated. Men controlled and enslaved their wives because they saw them as their property. A marriage was male-dominated and women’s lives were dedicated to welfare of home and family in perseverance of social stability. Women are expected to always be cheerful and good-humored. Respectively, the narrator and Mrs. Marroner are subjugated by their husbands in a society in which a relationship dominated by the male is expected.
Ernest Hemingway was an intricate and dedicated writer who devoted a significant portion of his life to writing multiple genres of stories. Throughout his stories, the similarities in his style and technique are easily noted and identified. Two of the short stories he wrote contain themes and motifs that specifically explain the plotline. The first story, “The Snows of Kilimanjaro,” sets its scene in the depths of a desolate area in Africa, where the main characters, Harry and his wife, decide to make their home. After living there for a few years, Harry ventures out and falls into a thorn bush, thus infecting his leg with gangrene. A few weeks later, he finds himself on the brink between life and death, unable to treat such a severe infection. Throughout the whole story, his life is flashing before his eyes as he recalls all of the major events that occurred in his past. By nightfall, Harry is acting unusual, and he begins to feel as if life is not worth living anymore. After he drifts off to sleep that evening, his wife goes to check on him and discovers that her husband has passed away (Hemingway 52-77). The second great work of Hemingway, “The Short, Happy Life of Francis Macomber,” is also set in a deserted section of Africa. Francis and his wife, Margot, are on a safari adventure along with their tour guide named Wilson. The way these three characters interact with each other creates tension and provides an adequate plot for the story. The trip begins with the couple intending on hunting big game. At first they track down a lion that continuously roars throughout the night, and later decide to chase after buffalos. To add to the complications of the trip, Margot has an intimate relationship with their tour guide. The story c...
Unfortunately, these terms describe the narrator very accurately, but what we don't know is, why does he act this way with his wife, when it concerns Robert? It is the opinion of the writer of this essay, that the Narrator is only insecure. The relationship that his wife shares with another man is uncommon, regardless of whether or not he is blind. Although, the wife sees her communication with Robert as being harmless, and a means of expressing herself. However, on the other hand, the Narrator sees, hears and understand, that his wife has an intimate relationship with Robert. Although she will never admit it.
Most love stories end with a man and woman happily in love with each other. This is not the case in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short story, “Last Kiss”. Throughout the story, Jim longs for his childhood sweetheart and Pamela seeks out someone who will make her a star actress in Hollywood. Jim holds fast to his position of power and does not give in to Pamela’s beauty and charm until later in the story. Strong will and determination of females pose as a threat to masculinity because females can entice, persuade and manipulate males. Fitzgerald’s story demonstrates the inability of femininity to surpass the power of masculinity. This is shown through reinforcement of femininity, masculinity and belief in social norms.
Contrastingly, Mrs. Darling, his wife, is portrayed as a romantic, maternal character. She is a “lovely lady”, who had many suitors yet was “won” by Mr. Darling, who got to her first. However, she is a multifaceted character because her mind is described “like the tiny boxes, one within the other, that come from the puzzling East”, suggesting that she is, to some extent, an enigma to the other characters, especially Mr. Darling. As well as this, she exemplifies the characteristics of a “perfect mother”. She puts everything in order, including her children’s minds, which is a metaphor for the morals and ethics that she instils in them. Although ...
Through this brief anecdote, Hemingway presents the readers the social dilemma of male domination over his counterpart. The women's fight for equality changed some "old traditions" but there are still many Jigs in our society that shouldn't be treated as inferiors. Women are the most beautiful beings in life, but they are not to be possessed ,but loved and admired.
As the story begins, the narrator's compliance with her role as a submissive woman is easily seen. She states, "John laughs at me, but one expects that in marriage" (Gilman 577). These words clearly illustrate the male's position of power in a marriage t...
...of the value of time and silence. With few words and actions, Elroy is able to prompt O’Brien to reach a resolve regarding his moral obligation to attend war. Miraculously, he succeeds without so much as mentioning war or O’Brien’s obvious predicament “as if he already knew” (58), suggesting he encompasses the omniscient masculine ideal. The unique way in which Mary Anne and Elroy disappear nearing the end of each short story further establishes their character’s identity. While Mary Anne’s exit derives confusion and drama, Elroy’s is simple and painless. This suggests that Mary Anne’s masculinity is presented through her loud and chaotic actions whereas Elroy’s is through his quiet sagacity.
I recently read Earnest Hemingway's "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber." This is a story about a thirty-five year old man, Francis Macomber who is on an African safari hunt with his wife, Margot. Led by his guide, Robert Wilson, Macomber tries to display his manhood by killing dangerous creatures. This in fact has the exact opposite effect when he humiliates himself by running from a wounded lion. Samuel Shaw stated in Earnest Hemingway, "…this is about much more than a hunting yarn, although it is that, too. It is a story that examines that elemental bases of the male-female relationship and the sources of human freedom and dependence" (82). The situation is complicated when Margot sleeps with Wilson and Macomber knows about it. Macomber has another chance to prove himself when they go into an island of trees to shoot a wounded buffalo. This time he stands his ground and shoots repeatedly as the buffalo charges forward. Seeing the whole situation from the car Margot shoots at the last instant, and in a brilliant ending by Hemmingway, misses and hits Macomber right in the back of the head, leaving the reader to wonder, "Did she mean to hit him?" Prevalent in this story is Hemmingway's use of the literary conventions conflict and ambiguity.
Beauty’s sisters marry rich men, who seemingly have acceptably desirable attributes as husbands. One man is detailed as a man of good looks. The other man is noted for having great wit. The two possess qualities most women seek in a husband, but it is indicated in descriptions that the two sisters are both unhappy in their marriages. Although the first husband is handsome, this serves him as a drawback, for he is a narcissist, only concerned with himself. The second husband’s wit is also a severe disadvantage due to the fact he uses his wit to torment other people, including his wife. It is when Beauty reviews her sisters’ marriages and the unhappiness her sisters experience in relation to their husbands that helps Beauty realize The Beast’s true worth and her love for him: “I should be happier with the monster than my sisters are with their husbands; it is neither wit, nor a fine person, in a husband, that makes a woman happy, but virtue, sweetness of temper and complaisance and Beast has all these valuable qualifications.” (9). The juxtaposition made between the husbands and The Beast create the disclosure of the appropriate masculine qualities a man should encompass. De Beaumont presents the contrast of characters to the reader as a method of emphasizing the
Through the characters' dialogue, Hemingway explores the emptiness generated by pleasure-seeking actions. Throughout the beginning of the story, Hemingway describes the trivial topics that the two characters discuss. The debate about the life-changing issue of the woman's ...
Stephen's relationship with the opposite sex begins to develop early in his life. Within the first few pages of the novel lie hints of the different roles women will...