“Basically, I think, I was furious with my mother for not teaching me how to be a woman, for not teaching me how to make peace between the raging hunger in my cunt and the hunger in my head. So I learned about women from men. I saw them through the eyes of male writers. Of course, I didn’t think of them as male writers. I thought of them as writers, as authorities, as gods who knew and were to be trusted completely” (212).
This passage focuses on the impact Isadora’s Oedipal logic and ineffective maternal upbringing has had on her sexual development. In the beginning of the novel, Isadora is unable to have a stable sexual relationship with either her husband or her lover. Though she has an extremely active sex life, she is left sexually unsatisfied by the men in her life. Speechless, boring Bennett stimulates her body but not her mind. Sexy, impotent Adrian stimulates her mind but not her body. In her mind, her mother is to blame. She is “furious” at her mother for not “teaching” her how to “make peace between the raging hunger” in her “cunt” and in her “head”. Here, Isadora’s word choice emphasizes her resentment towards her mother and highlights the intense desire she has for sexual and mental fulfillment. Her use of the verb phrase “make peace” shows that there is the antithesis, war and violent turmoil, in her life when her “hunger” is left unsatisfied.
Isadora is left to seek sexual knowledge on her own. She looks to the writings of men for her sexual education. Isadora equates these male writers to “gods”, emphasizing the power she believes men have over her thought process. She degenders these male writers by first italicizing “male” and then “writers” in an attempt to justify her reliance on male teachings for sexual knowledge. However, she cannot escape the masculine expectations and masculine control over her femininity. Monique Wittig writes, “Women will have to abstract themselves from the definition woman which is imposed upon them” (1). For Isadora to achieve complete sexual liberation, she must define her sexuality apart from both her mother and her male educators.
Excellent close reading and analysis Shannon! This reminded me of a scene around the very beginning where Isadora's psychoanalyst Dr. Kolner says to her, "Maybe you don't understand what it means to be a woman" (25). It is ironic how Isadora has to turn to men to learn more about herself. She also points on pg. 34 how literature has been dominated by men, therefore there is "only one side of the story". Indeed, as you pointed out with Wittig, Isadora can only define herself by distancing herself from these influences.
ReplyDeleteI really like your choice of passage! One noteworthy thing about Isadora is her confusion as a woman and as a feminist. There are so many instances where she is clearly pro-women having sexual and mental freedom and to do as they please. I think it's interesting to trace times when she complete diverges from this path of freedom and plays the part of the "housewife" or revels in the "male writers" aka "gods."
ReplyDeleteOn page 179, Isadora is venting to Adrian about how dependent she is on Bennett. "Besides, no man wants to be stuck with a lady writer. They're liabilities. They daydream when they're supposed to be cooking. They worry about books instead of babies. They forget to clean the house..."
"Jesus Christ! You're some fine feminist."
I think she blames her mother for not only teaching her how to think and act, but also how to be the socially accepted form of a woman. She's different, and as much as she is a feminist, she lapses back to these bitter fantasies.
Your comment about "make peace" really struck me. "Making" something implies an action while "peace" implies tranquility and non-action. This is quite an interesting paradox. I think it parallels Isadora's struggle to define her own femininity. She finds her womaness from men. She has to make peace. I don't know if this is making sense, but those two words brought up a paradoxical conflict that I think is reflected in Isadora's struggle to find her womanhood.
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