Brett
In class we talked about how Brett is a very controversial character in The Sun Also Rises. She is a women living a party life in Paris in the 1920's. Brett always seems to be out with different men every night. We know she is getting a divorce and she is engaged to Mike. Brett also spends time with "the Count", Cohn, and Romero. Brett is controversial because she has all these men in her life that she leads on. Another character, Cohn does a similar thing as Brett. He has also been married and he tells Frances, the next girl he is going to marry, to go to England. Cohn does this because he wants to go on a vacation with Brett. We tend to ignore this side of Cohn and in turn he is seen as an honorable man stuck in past traditions. However this description of Cohn is not completely accurate. He has doing the same things as Brett but is not judged as harshly. This is because he is a man. Cohn tries to stand up for Brett's honor because he thinks it is tarnished because she has gone off with Romero. This action by Cohn is unnecessary and in my opinion somewhat hypocritical. Cohn has just done the same thing to Frances but it is okay. Mike also reacts to Brett's promiscuous behavior although in a different way then Cohn. Mike at fist seems much more "okay" with it. He seems to see this as normal Brett behavior. We see Mike start to fall apart when Cohn keeps intervening between him and Brett. Cohn thinks he and Brett are still an item. While becoming very intoxicated, Mike lashes out at Cohn. Brett is mad at both Cohn and Mike. She then chooses to go off with Romero and leaves the two men behind. Jake is also effected by Brett, they are in love but they could never be together because of Jake's war injury. Jake starts to drink more and more towards the end of the book to forget his feelings for Brett.
After this short discussion in class we split into groups to discuss the more recent reading. In my group, one of the people said how they though Brett had ulterior motives to why she was always with these other men. They thought that Brett was after money and that is why she went from man to man. This comment really shocked me because she is currently engaged to Mike, who is completely bankrupt. Even when Brett was around the Count (who would pay for everything) she was more around him for the fun and the good stories he told. We learn later that Romero even tries to give her money but she does not let him. people in the group also said a reason why Brett doesn't seem genuine is because she does not show emotions or express genuine love. In the book Brett talks about how she loves Romero, "I can't help it. I'm a goner. It's tearing me all up inside" (Hemingway 187).When I asked my group if they thought any of the men had ulterior motives in order to be with Brett they said "maybe". I personally think that the men might hang around Brett because she is fun but also because she is willing to have sex with them. We discussed in class how Romero might have wanted to pay Brett because of her "services" which adds on to the idea of men being around her for sex. Do you think Brett is around these men more money? Or these men are around Brett for sex?
After this short discussion in class we split into groups to discuss the more recent reading. In my group, one of the people said how they though Brett had ulterior motives to why she was always with these other men. They thought that Brett was after money and that is why she went from man to man. This comment really shocked me because she is currently engaged to Mike, who is completely bankrupt. Even when Brett was around the Count (who would pay for everything) she was more around him for the fun and the good stories he told. We learn later that Romero even tries to give her money but she does not let him. people in the group also said a reason why Brett doesn't seem genuine is because she does not show emotions or express genuine love. In the book Brett talks about how she loves Romero, "I can't help it. I'm a goner. It's tearing me all up inside" (Hemingway 187).When I asked my group if they thought any of the men had ulterior motives in order to be with Brett they said "maybe". I personally think that the men might hang around Brett because she is fun but also because she is willing to have sex with them. We discussed in class how Romero might have wanted to pay Brett because of her "services" which adds on to the idea of men being around her for sex. Do you think Brett is around these men more money? Or these men are around Brett for sex?
Interesting post! Brett demonstrates more traditionally masculine activities, like drinking and promiscuity, and I think that it's interesting that Cohn is so critical of her behavior. As for Brett's motives, she has clearly gone through some trauma with the loss of one husband and the abuse coming from another, and I think that the partying and the drinking are ways to escape traditional relationships and commitment. The men in her life appear to not know about these circumstances, with the exception of Jake, and so they have no context for understanding her motives.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with you. This topic really frustrated me, as I personally really like the character of Brett. To me, she represents everything that goes against the traditional stereotypes of femininity, and that is really powerful in a novel. Brett's pain is mostly caused by previous traumas in her relationships, leading to her behavior as somewhat of a coping mechanism.
ReplyDeleteI think the point that we don't look at Cohn's behavior as closely as Brett's is really interesting, and seems quite convincing. As you say, Cohn does pretty much all the same things Brett does, but escapes condemnation for his promiscuity because he is a man, and is continuously performing traditional masculinity.
ReplyDeletePersonally, it seems like Mike gets angry at Cohn because he hasn't understood how Brett works, probably because Cohn does seem to be stuck in the past (when it comes to his expectations for other people, but not himself). Mike seems to mostly accept Brett for who she is, and is angered by Cohn because Cohn is unable to do so, and so unable to let Mike do so.