Short Draft Final Paper
My two texts for the short draft final paper are Charles Portis’ novel True Grit and Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire play. The two texts portrayed femininity in an environment perceived to be dominated by male characters. Having been written several years ago, the two texts presented femininity in different ways; Williams, in his play, demonstrated femininity in a negative way while Charles Portis’ play showed positive femininity.
Charles Portis, in his novel, the True Grit, used Mattie, a female character, in an environment where the majority of the other characters were males. Examples of the male characters in the novel include Rooster, LaBoeuf, Tom Chaney, and Lucky Ned Pepper. The male characters took control of almost everything. The majority of the bandits led by Lucky Ned were also male characters. In Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire, the male characters like Stanley, Steve and Mitch seemed to take control of everything. Stanley had little respect for females, and this was proved by the words he used and his actions towards female characters like Blanche and Stella.
Charles Portis used Mattie in his novel to show healthy femininity. From the onset of the novel, Mattie’s feminism was clear when she decided to seek justice for the demise of her father. Mattie’s father was killed by Tom Chaney, who also robbed him 150 US dollars cash, a horse, and two California gold pieces, and Mattie was not only determined to get the assets back but also to have justice prevail. According to Charles Portis, Mattie stated that Mattie was only fourteen years of age when she decided to leave home and went off during winter to avenge her father’s blood (Portis 4). At the beginning of the journey, LaBoeuf and Rooster wanted Mattie to remain behind, but she did not give in because she had a mission to accomplish. Also, Mattie had to endure long and tedious days and nights. According to Portis, Mattie states that “I was hungry and aching, but I kept my peace for I knew the both of them were waiting for me to complain or say something that would make me out a tenderfoot” (73). Charles portrayed Mattie as caring because every time Rooster, LaBoeuf, and Mattie had to cook something, Mattie was responsible for fetching water. Mattie had to persevere hilly areas and walked hundreds of yards to get the water. Charles argues that Mattie would say, “I had no lantern and I stumbled and fell with the first bucket before I got far and had to retrace my steps and get another” (76). Such an action was a show of femininity because Mattie was new in such places, and she had to risk all the dangers that included dangerous wild animals.
Williams, in his A Streetcar Named Desire to play, presented Blanche as a female character who portrayed unhealthy femininity. Blanche was ridiculous and did not respect Stella’s residential place. According to Williams, Blanche told Stella that “I thought you would never come back at this horrible place” (9)! Blanche was also scornful. Williams argues that when Blanche was sharing with Stanley, Blanche realized that Stella was around, and Blanche told Stanley that “The poor little thing was out there listening to us, and I have an idea she doesn’t understand you as well as I do” (36). The language that Blanche used was a show of unhealthy feminism. Additionally, Blanche portrayed unhealthy feminism when Stella told Blanche that Blanche would wish to see the wives of Mitch and Steve. Williams notes that Stella had told Blanche, “You ought to see their wives,” and Blanche replied, “I can imagine. Big, beefy things, I suppose” (48). The judgmental nature of Blanche presented unhealthy feminism.
Work Cited
Williams, Tennessee. A streetcar named desire. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2015: 1-75.
Portis, Charlie. True grit. Overamstel Uitgevers, 2011: 1-150.