Award Date

December 2023

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

English

First Committee Member

Beth C. Rosenberg

Second Committee Member

Katherine Walker

Third Committee Member

Stephen Brown

Fourth Committee Member

Danielle Roth-Johnson

Number of Pages

66

Abstract

While debate of Ernest Hemingway’s authorial masculine persona in connection to The Garden of Eden has been a point of interest in literary scholarship, no single work has tied together theory of gender performativity to persona. A borderline parodic display of masculine adventure has encouraged a one-dimensional view of Hemingway, who is viewed by audiences as the pinnacle of masculinity. However, this image is complicated by the publication of Eden, which reveals an author interested in gender and sexual identity fluidity. Rarely has a single text called into question so controversially an author’s public image. Eden showcases an empathetic side of Hemingway unfamiliar to readers. The tenderness in Hemingway’s prose of queer characters reveals an author overflowing with sympathy, yet eventually succumbing to the protection of his own culturally created masculine persona.Using Judith Butler’s theories of gender performativity and compulsory heterosexuality, in connection with Jack Halberstam’s notion of the female masculine, this research close read how Eden’s main characters enact gender fluidity by their physical stylings, gender role reversals, and queer relationships. My research argues that gender confusion, which began with “Summer Girl”, haunted Hemingway, leading to the creation of the masculine authorial persona he is remembered for today. As such, Catherine and David are read as manifestations of Hemingway’s own gender divergence. Undertaking such study is vital to Hemingway scholarship in order to understand the nuanced threads of identity, desire, and gender presented within Eden. My research explores the circular nature of gender performativity and masculine persona creation in the author’s controversial novel.

Keywords

American Literature; Gender studies; Hemingway; Modernism; The Garden of Eden

Disciplines

American Literature | Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies | Gender and Sexuality

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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