Womens role in
The term whore, in today's society, is usually reserved for the 5-dollar girl on the street corner. In the early 1900's, however, the women were viewed as whores because they were "inferior" to men. In Sherwood Anderson's novel "Winesburg, Ohio" the "whorish aspects of females are shown in the common trend among the women of this era. Women are publicized as lustful sex desirers, feeble, and maudlin. Wash Williams, George Willard, and Tom Willard are models of the men in Winesburg, Ohio that show it was suitable during this time period to boast these beliefs. Anderson uses Louise Trunion, Louise Hardy, and Virginia Richmond as examples to show his personal views of the opposite and inferior sex. Louise Trunion holds a much talked about character flaw; she is tremendously loose. In the section "Nobody Knows," George Willard finds out about Trunion's liking for him in a evocative letter from Trunion that said, "I'm yours if you want me"(60). The townspeople also talked of how promiscuous Louise is with men. This is not a positive portrayal of Louise by any means. Trunion and George go off together to have sex with one another despite the relationship
I think Anderson was suggesting that only a man could provide the necessary discipline to raise a child, and this reflects on Anderson's negative view of women. This suggests that her mother believes that Wash would forget what his wife did if he saw her naked again. Louise Hardy is another example of Anderson's showing a negative portrayal of women. This "most peaceful and loving thing" becomes a neurotic person with mood swings. She is unable to discipline her son as shown when Seth Richmond, when scolded, "Looked steadily at her (his mother), causing uneasy doubts to invade her mind" (124). In truth, this double standard is still present today. Virginia Richmond is another example of Anderson's treatment of women in Winesburg, Ohio. He thought that womanly whorishness was unacceptable, but for males the view was just "boys will be boys". George comes back to town after having sex and smokes a cigar as he recollects the recent events. There are also a number of men in this novel that support the fact that Anderson had a negative view of women. Anderson portrays women as the product of promiscuity from society's influence and every woman's natural urges. He buys and smokes a cigar as he talks trash about Louise labeling her as a whore and that she has nothing on him.
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Acceptance Essays
