Semesteroppgave ENG4435 – The Lost Generation and the 1920s, vår 2012.
Dorothy Parker’s short story “Big Blonde,” first
published in 1929 and an O. Henry Prizewinner for best American short story of
that year (Kinney 137), is a mercilessly damning portrait of the role of women
in contemporary American society, with specific focus on urban middle class –
or, perhaps more specifically, the “roaring” part of it – gender roles and
gender dynamics. In this essay I will present some salient themes of Parker’s
story, and try to identify her position on these themes. I will focus my
interpretation on how women are portrayed and on the interaction between women
and men, and use that analysis as a point of departure for a discussion of how
“Big Blonde” can be analyzed as a feminist critique of contemporary American
society in the twenties.
Hazel Morse is the story’s
focalizing protagonist. The development of her character, and the interplay
between her gradually deteriorating self and the series of men she surrounds
herself with and depends upon, becomes the main vehicle by which Parker’s
commentary on society is both presented and represented. Hazel, and the series
of states she is in, is the object of a continual mirroring in her own
immediate context: The series of men, the neighbor Mrs. Martin, the newspaper
clippings, the series of encounters with horses, and so on, all become
reflections of the development of her character. Thus, the following
interpretation of “Big Blonde” will center on this focal character.
