Editing Internet Texts/Women in Hemingway's fiction/Maria



Another female character who generally serves as a representative of Hemingway’s “saintly” women is Maria, the heroine from For Whom the Bell Tolls. The novel, published in 1940, is set in Spain during the Spanish Civil War and tells the story of a young American, Robert Jordan, who, being assigned the task of blowing up a bridge in Segovia, joins a local guerrilla camp. This leads to his encounter with Maria with whom he immediately falls in love.

Maria, whose character was inspired by a Spanish nurse, seems to play a similar role to Catherine’s, the role of a dream-like woman sexually gratifying the male protagonist. Because of her idealisation signalled by her immediate willingness to enter a relationship with Robert and desire to grant his wishes, Maria is generally denounced as vapid and unrealistic. Wilson calls her “the amoeba-like little Spanish girl” who “lives only to serve her lord and to merge her identity with his”. In his view, the affair between Maria and Robert is unrealistic and rather than resembling real-life relationships, is “a youthful erotic dream”. Young concludes that “Maria is just too ethereal for the world she is in - is submissive and devoted beyond credibility.”

This excessive submissiveness has been condemned by many critics as the very feature which makes Maria unrealistic. When it comes to her relations with Robert, she, indeed, seems to embody men’s fantasies as she is ready to sacrifice herself in order to satisfy her partner. She has a very conventional view of a woman’s role in a relationship as she repeatedly assures Jordan that she will endeavour to be worthy of him and by enumerating things she can do, strives to prove her usefulness:

The readings of Maria which suggest that she is fulfilled by serving the man she loves appear to be justifiable. Although her dialogues are strikingly similar to those of Catherine, there is no hint of irony when she says “If I am to be thy woman I should please thee in all ways.”, “I will make thee as good a wife as I can” or “There isn’t any me. I am only with him”. Therefore, Maria does emerge as an ideal “saintly” woman. Furthermore, the relationship also seems a little unrealistic. After knowing each other for less than a day, Maria and Robert already confess their love and there is no implication that their affair is just a game or that their confessions are mere lies. In fact, Robert’s reflections on his feelings indicate that it was love at first sight, “You were gone when you first saw her. When she first opened her mouth and spoke to you it was there already and you know it”. Moreover, Maria’s behaviour may be thought of as improbable. It may be difficult to comprehend her willingness to submit to a man she barely knows only three months after she was brutalised and raped. The idea of falling in love at first sight combined with Maria’s incomprehensible decisions make this affair truly idealistic.

Nevertheless, just like in the case of Catherine, analyses of Maria are contradictory as well and although negative depictions of the character are anything but rare, there are also more positive readings. Some critics see her as a complex woman despite the fact that on the surface she seems plain and submissive. Baker contends that Maria, similarly to Catherine, not only completes Jordan, but she herself is completed by her involvement in their relationship. Eby, on the other hand, remarks on her strength and courage by describing her as “beaten but heroically undefeated” and thus “[holding] out hope for the Spanish people”.

Bravery is, undoubtedly, a feature one cannot deny Maria. Being only nineteen years old, she has witnessed her parents’ execution, has been held prisoner, repeatedly raped by the fascists, and, finally, lost the man she loved. Hemingway, however, endows her with enormous courage and endurance since despite the severe trauma she experienced, Maria is not defeated. As she stresses in her conversation with Jordan, “Never did I submit to any one. Always I fought and always it took two of them or more to do me the harm. One would sit on my head and hold me. I tell thee this for thy pride”. Despite the fact that she wished to die, Maria did not give up and was able to endure the pain. What is even more important, she manages to recover. With the help of Pilar, who literally saves her life and then serves as her mentor, Maria learns how to live in the war-ravaged world and overcome challenges which would prevent her from finding happiness in life. In addition, Sinclair even argues that Maria together with Pilar are “bearers of the Hemingway code” as they “offer models for living simply within the confines of one’s circumstances, but acting courageously under those constraints”. Maria is a seemingly fragile woman who, nonetheless, manages to survive in the time of war, in the world which breaks many men.

As the action progresses, however, Maria’s mental health improves which is implied by her hair growth. According to Baker, “The cutting of Maria’s hair is a symbol of her loss of normal womanhood or girlhood, just as its growing-out indicates her gradual return to balance and health.” On the other hand, Maria’s short hair may be interpreted as a masculine trait which makes her equal to Robert and thus puts her in a more empowered position. Interestingly enough, although Robert thinks: “She’d be beautiful if they hadn’t cropped her hair”, it is the hair which attracts him to Maria: “he ran his hand over the top of her head. He had been wanting to do that all day and now he did it, he could feel his throat swelling”.

Additionally, Guill in her article discusses the possibility of analysing the portrayal of Maria and Pilar in the novel as “Hemingway’s feminist homage to the ‘New Woman of Spain’”. In her view, Maria’s development from “a vulnerable and helpless young woman with long braids (…) and wearing a long heavy skirt to “the ‘new’ Maria who wears (..) trousers and ‘a khaki shirt, open at the neck’” may symbolise the change in gender roles which took place during the Spanish Civil War. Similarly to the “American New Woman”, the “New Woman of Spain” was fighting for liberty and power by becoming more politically involved and revolting against masculine authority. Some of the characteristics of a modern woman may, indeed, be ascribed to Maria as her development is not only reflected in her appearance, but also her behaviour. She proved she is no longer a vulnerable, feeble girl not only by her heroism while faced with the pain and horrors of the war, but also by her wish to avenge her parents’ death as she announces to Jordan, “they [Falangists] are bad people and I would like to kill some of them with thee if I could”.

What is more, her willingness to become involved in a relationship with a man she claims to love does not necessarily have to be interpreted as docility. Once again, the context of the novel must be taken into consideration. After being abused and brutalised by the fascists, the affair with Robert gives Maria happiness for she finally feels appreciated and loved by a man who is caring and tender. In addition, it is her way of recuperating. When Maria comes to Robert for the first time, she explains her behaviour by saying, “if we do everything together, the other maybe never will have been” since “nothing is done to oneself that one does not accept and (…) if I loved someone it would take it all away”. Maria believes in Pilar’s assurance that Jordan’s love can heal her and help her forget about the past. Entering a sexual relationship may thus, once again, be seen as a strategy for keeping sanity and surviving in the time of war. Although Maria’s actions are controlled by Pilar, she makes a conscious decision of consummating the relationship.

Nevertheless, even if Maria is perceived as docile and passive, her idealisation takes on new meanings once it is assumed that the character’s importance in the novel is symbolic. As it has been mentioned, she is the embodiment of the “Home concept” and indeed, brings peace to Robert’s life. She “can be credited with offering Jordan physical, emotional, and psychological comfort”, as Robert himself notes:

Not only does Maria endue him with love, but she also inspires his courage and sparks his personal development. Due to the relationship, Jordan is instilled with inner strength and fearlessness crucial in the face of death. Consequently, he eventually proves his manhood and dies a heroic death despite his inner conflicts and disillusionment with the Republican cause. What is more, his newfound love to Maria results in his growing attached to the world and the fellow guerrilla band which makes his sacrifice even more meaningful.

Furthermore, Maria may be thought of as a representative of Spain. Her symbolic function in the novel is to embody the strength of the country and hopes for victory. Spain, as Maria, is beaten but not defeated. The claim that she symbolizes the land of Spain is justified by evident similarities between the character and earth. Indeed, while describing Maria, Hemingway often uses earth imagery. Her hair is thus “the golden brown of a grain field that has been burned dark in the sun” which “flattens and rises like a wheatfield in the wind”. Her breasts, on the other hand, are compared to “two small hills that rise out of the long plain where there is a well”, and “the far country beyond the hills was the valley of her throat”.

In conclusion, Maria’s character, generally viewed as underdeveloped, static and unrealistic, on closer examination appears as much more complex. Even though her submissiveness cannot be denied, it may be easily accounted for, especially if the context of the novel is taken into consideration and Maria is viewed in the light of her heroism. Idealised as she may be, Maria’s inner strength and the symbolic importance she is given should not be overlooked and, therefore, she should not be seen as merely a dream-version of a woman. Her role is not limited to being a sexual object and satisfying Jordan. Despite being vulnerable, she exhibits resilience and determination which enable her to endure the pain and survive in the time of war. Due to her warmth and delicacy, she brings comfort not only to Jordan, but also the other members of Pablo’s band. By serving as a symbol of survival, she raises their hopes for victory. Her influence on Robert is, however, of the utmost significance as she inspires his development and helps him prove his manhood.

=Quiz=

{How can Maria's submissiveness be justified? + she wants to recuperate from her trauma - she wants to dominate Robert + she is in love + Robert cares for her and makes her feel safe
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{If Maria is seen as having a symbolic function in the novel, what does she stands for? - docility - men's dominance over women + Spain + hope for victory
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{Since Maria "watched him [Robert] all through the meal, (..) looked at him and laughed, then blushed suddenly but kept on looking at him, (...) put her hand on his arm and looked in his face”, she... - wanted to seduce and use Robert + proves her self-assurance + initiated the affair - is an idealised, overly submissive character
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=References=