Females and Males
Excerpt 1:
It is true that the way in which both of these authors write is magnificent, but just as amazing as their structural abilities is the fact that both writers are able to make statements regarding gender roles in their pieces. It is evident that both James and Dickinson do not value societal roles that are based on gender. In "Over the Fence," Dickinson expresses her belief that gender roles do nothing but oppress what is in the hearts of human beings, not only sexually, but in occupations and platonic relationships. James backs this idea up when he shows the degrading consequences of sexism. Pansy, in The Portrait of a Lady, is a supreme example of this; Pansy is so polite, quiet and feminine that she becomes annoying in the reader's mind. The audience feels pity for this brainwashed little girl because James does such a wonderful job exposing the evils of the sexist society in which Pansy lives. Opposingly, James make the women who step out of their female roles the heroines of his stories. Daisy Miller epitomizes this in her refusal to follow the standards of dating. Daisy makes the women in the story who are defined by their roles seem rather silly.
The way James and Dickinson present their characters and personas makes one question male and female roles in a second way. Many characters in James' literature surpass gender roles in such striking ways that one is forced to question James' own sexuality. This is shown through the character Ralph Touchett, from The Portrait of a Lady. Ralph is a very frail, emotion-filled, feminine character who is liked very much by the reader. His developed lack of masculinity can be speculated as James' attempt to show himself (and his own sexuality) through his character. A similar piece of speculative evidence is found in The Turn of the Screw, in Peter Quint. Quint is a very masculine man who has obvious affairs with women, yet it is suggested that he has had sexual relations with the young Miles, thus crossing sexual borders. This same gender-mixing can be seen in Dickinson's poems, especially poem #162 ("My River runs to thee -"). If one looks at this poem as autobiographical (in that Dickinson is "me"), then there is a gender reversal that suggests lesbianism or bisexualism. The image of the river is very masculine, whereas the lover in the poem, the "ocean," is very feminine. If one analyzes the poem in this way, Emily would be writing to another woman, thus stepping away from her societalized female role. Because of the overstepping of sexual norms and relationships in each author's writing, it is clear that neither artist believes that there should be a difference between males and females. The only mentioned differences are those forced on humanity by society. If it were not for society's guidelines, the distinction, according to James and Dickinson, is very limited.
Excerpt 2:
James and Emily found similar ground on another area despite this conflict over genre. Both of these creators understood human characteristics beyond the definition of sexuality regardless of the fact that they expressed themselves most often from the feminine standpoint. Although Emily mostly wrote from the female perspective, there are poems that express her understanding that sexuality is not what is important, the passion inside is. In her poem "We don't cry - Tim and I," she expresses herself as one being possessing both masculine and feminine sides. The passion is possessed in one body, however, and that is the true identifying characteristic of her being. Also, in her piece "Fate slew Him, but He did not drop," she recognizes the passion that a man can feel is equal to that of a woman. After all of her attempts to chip away at his being she "Acknowledged him a Man." This represents her understanding that man is no better that woman and woman is equal to man.
James also understood that one's passion for life far exceeds the importance of one's sexuality. James found himself, as a young man, surrounded by passionate beings who mostly happened to be females. This is why he writes about several strange, passionate women. However, it is not the fact that they are women that defines them so well, it is the fact that they are passionate. It is their loving that is significant. In his novel The Portrait of a Lady, he expresses this belief: "Why, indeed, should we perpetually be thinking whether things are good for us, as if we were patients lying in a hospital?" (206). Although James seemed to understand women very well, he also understood that living with passion is what is important and if that most clearly represents itself through women, then, so be it.
Excerpt 3:
The issue of male and female presents another example of how these two authors are different. Obviously, Dickinson is a female and James is male, but, aside from that, in their writings both often wrote about women and reflect on different issues concerning their ideas of the roles women play in society. Dickinson writes about women for her own "private" idea of what the love of, or for, a woman, really means. James does the same, but he takes a more common and "socially influenced" perspective. James has obviously sat around with "The guys" and discusses in women in general and what they are, what they mean, and, more importantly, "what they really want." James dives deep into the age old question that men have pondered upon concerning women. The question that men ask is "what is she thinking?" I feel that James was chasing wild geese, so to speak, because men may never figure women out -- they are the strangest creatures on earth, and will continue to be so as far as I know. Dickinson is a woman, so therefore she does not try to figure out what women are because she already knows. She just seeks acceptance in her relationships with women.