Subversion of Conventional Gender Rolesin Ernest Hemingway's A Farwell to Arms

Abstract

Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms questions traditional concept of male female gender distinction through the character Catherine Barkley's androgynous performance.As Judith Butler questions the very binary of traditional sex and gender by describing them as a cultural construct, Catherine rejects prevailing gender identity by not complying with the norms of gender roles. She does not take traditional concept of gender or femininity granted as she hates institution of marriage, submissiveness, domesticity and modesty, which were stereotypically followed and considered to be the attributes of good women at the time when the novel waswritten. Moreover, her masculine attitude towards sex, dress and hairstyle reflects ambiguity in gender and sexual identity there by subverting the traditional femininity. In this way, Catherine subverts the traditional concept of gender or femininity. KeyWords: Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms,Sex,Gender,Androgyny,Performance, Tradition.