Janet and Jael
Janet and Jael are complex characters in their own right, but both of them have symbolic significance in the novel too. As an emissary of Whileaway—the feminist utopia that Joanna the character v...
The Little Blue Book and the Little Pink Book
The party on Riverside Drive is a scene full of archetypal characters and witty symbolism. The Host's little blue book, called "WHAT TO DO IN EVERY SITUATION" (3.2.167), symbolizes patriarchal ideo...
Symbolic Clothing
In one of the passages following the party on Riverside Drive, a nameless, faceless male voice laughs and asks: "Burned any bras lately"? (3.5.1). For the feminist activists who really did burn bra...
The Red, Red Rose on Laura's Jeans
"My love is like a red, red rose," writes the eighteenth-century poet Robert Burns, and Laura Rose Wilding knows exactly what he means. Flowers have been artistic symbols of femininity and female s...
The Whileawayan Dingus
Okay folks, let's get through this without snickering. If you've seen any of the ten million American Pie movies that have been made, you can certainly handle this. The Whileawayan dingus is a… v...
Abstract Symbols of Masculinity and Femininity
If you've ever seen The Da Vinci Code (not the best source of trustworthy information, we know), you'll have heard that, historically, some abstract shapes have tended to be associated with masculi...