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"I have a big surprise"; Gender and Sexuality in Hemingway's The Garden of Eden, Mr. and Mrs. Elliot, and The Sea Change

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2021, BA, Kent State University, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of English.
The posthumous publication of Ernest Hemingway's The Garden of Eden raised questions within the academic community surrounding the topics of gender and sexuality. Though he is typically known as a writer who favors heterosexual and heavily masculine themes, this novel challenges those notions by introducing aspects such as same-sex experimentation, gender role reversal, and the complicated dynamic of a three-person relationship. The first portion of this thesis focuses on the establishment of the aforementioned qualities within the novel, supporting and further arguing that the elements blatantly reject what is typically discussed about Hemingway's works. In addition, the film adaption of the novel is evaluated at length in order to understand a more modern response to his work within popular culture. Finally, this thesis explores two short stories, Mr. and Mrs. Elliot and The Sea Change. As both of the stories are cited as early blueprints to The Garden of Eden, their inclusion suggests Hemingway began thinking of these time-period taboos long before the 1986 publication of the novel. The overall argument emphasizes the importance of rereading and revisiting the Hemingway canon in order to bring more continuous and evolved conversation into academia and popular culture at large.
Ryan Hediger, Ph.D (Advisor)
Molly Merryman, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Robert Trogdon, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Kimberly Winebrenner, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
77 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Hamilton, M. (2021). "I have a big surprise"; Gender and Sexuality in Hemingway's The Garden of Eden, Mr. and Mrs. Elliot, and The Sea Change [Undergraduate thesis, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ksuhonors1620594360600049

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Hamilton, Megan. "I have a big surprise"; Gender and Sexuality in Hemingway's The Garden of Eden, Mr. and Mrs. Elliot, and The Sea Change. 2021. Kent State University, Undergraduate thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ksuhonors1620594360600049.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Hamilton, Megan. ""I have a big surprise"; Gender and Sexuality in Hemingway's The Garden of Eden, Mr. and Mrs. Elliot, and The Sea Change." Undergraduate thesis, Kent State University, 2021. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ksuhonors1620594360600049

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)