Cat In The Rain

Cat In The Rain

Cat In The Rain is a short story written by Ernest Hemingway in 1925. The time this short story takes place greatly affects the way a reader interprets the women in this story, because in 1925 women did not act and were not treated the way they are today. For example in the story one of the women plays the role of a maid not a hotel owner like the man does, which suggests that women are not worthy of high paying and important jobs such as hotel owners and businessmen, and should only work low end jobs such as maids.

Men VS Women

In this short story the husband seems to overpower the wife, not caring for her thoughts and feelings at all. This is a representation of feminist theory because in the story the husband ignores the wife as she talks about wanting to cut her hair and get a cat, finally the husband not wanting her to talk at all tells her to shut up. This shows the husband doesn't value her opinions and treat her like an equal. A woman should be in an equal relationship with a man and should be respected, unlike in Cat In The Rain where the women is not talked to with respect.

Feminist Theory

Cat In The Rain

By Taylor Gordon

A feminist is a political position on women's rights and how a women should be treated. Feminist theory is a gender based theory that explores the female world and outlook, including how a women's role is perceived in a story. Feminist theory explores all influences women have in stories, whether it is a women's relationship with a man, a women's job or a women's influence on other characters.

Character Analysis

Connections

• The husband represents the controlling husbands who treat their wives poorly do to being female.
• The wife represents the unequal women in relationships who are often ignored and talked to rudely.
• The maid represents women who are in low end underpaid jobs do to being female.
• The hotel owner represents the classic businessmen who are mostly men due their need for power over women.

Feminism is still going on today as women still fight for equal pay and equal job opportunities. Just like in the short story maids are still only women and higher paid jobs such as hotel owners are primarily men. Although it is more common today to have an equal relationship, not all women do, as still some women do not have valued opinions and thoughts. For example in Born Into Brothels the children that are girls are severely mistreated more then the boys because of their gender. This is shown when the girls are sold at a very young age but the boys are not. The girls are similar to the wife in the short story as they are both often ignored and are spoke to like they are not equal.