Masculinity In George Orwell's Dystopian Novel '1984'
538 Words3 Pages
Masculinity is commonly perceived as the strongest quality, however, it can be as weak as femininity. In Orwell’s dystopian world, women are considered equal to men. Since Big Brother’s purpose is to ensure that every citizen is to be weak, without regard to their gender, both male and female are balanced in weakness. This is due to the Party easily controlling them. George Orwell’s dystopian novel, 1984, depicts the fundamental roles of women through the use of characters like Julia, Katherine, Mrs. Parsons, and the prole woman as they convey similar qualities, such as weakness, to the men in Oceania. Julia is unlike from the typical women of society due to her masculine rebelliousness. As the Party pursues to control all aspects of every citizens’ life with psychological…show more content… Her lack of self-respect with her body displays weakness. The prohibition of sex is an instrument of oppression by Big Brother, so Julia exploits sexuality as a method of liberation. With Julia commencing contact through her note that admits her love for Winston, she presents an aggressive male quality. Her military-like precision and strategic traits are palpable when she plans to meet with Winston. After the ordeal, Julia expounds to Winston that she “[didn’t] give a damn what [he] suffer[ed] because all [she] cared about [was herself]” (267). Weakness creates the fear of her own mortality dominating over any feelings of attachment she shares with Winston. This fear envelopes her and results the difficulty to deliver her true emotions to others. Although Julia does not seem to be a stereotypical female character at first, she fulfills Orwell’s prejudiced idea that women are untrustworthy. Her betrayal and selfish ambitions prevails her concern for Winston, thus demonstrating a stereotypical weakness in the female sex. Julia’s action manifests a dull character who only feeds into the beliefs of a prejudiced audience. The only hope