cultures discomfort with the post WW1
woman.
Irvine
“Women in Steinbeck's novel are portrayed as
adaptable in times of adversity”
When masculinity falters,
femininity remains steady, necessary for
everyone’s survival
Ma is a feminist— feisty, strong,
loving, resilient — and the kind of leader, then
and now, who might guide the nation’s jalopy
through difficult times. "
Steinbeck presents Ma Joad’s growing power
as a source of communal strength
“it is through the unflinching fortitude of Ma,
and through Rose of Sharon who now
becomes an extension of Ma, that the promise
of future revival is given.”
The novel abounds in minor female
characters whose dress and activities identify
them as incarnations of the New Woman
They are often vain, egotistical, even
destructive and ruthless
That the novel finds this freedom
unacceptable in women is evident in its
unsympathetic portrayals
That the novel finds this freedom
unacceptable in women is evident in its
unsympathetic portrayals
anderson
"Flapperdom stood for individual rebellion
against the old pieties and restraints"