John Irving’s novelThe World According to Garpgives the reader a view on the lives of its characters and, as a part of it, their attitudes towards lust and sexuality. The description of these aspects is very direct and may be offensive for some more conservative persons. Even for persons who tend to be liberal- minded, Irving’s way of writing about sex can be uncommon, although he uses lust and sexuality only to tell the story and not for sensational reasons. It is strange that after forty years of sexual liberation, or the so called ´sexual revolution´, so little seems to have changed and people still have these kinds of feelings when reading about sex being described so directly. Despite the fact that people expected more from the sexual liberation in the 1960s and 1970s, there was indeed a change in attitude towards certain aspects, such as premarital and extramarital sex. Studies in the United States in the 1970s revealed “a gradual decrease over time in the percentage of respondents who said that premarital sex is always wrong”. Another important change which derived from the liberation movement was the new female sexuality, especially concerning the sexual fulfilment of women before and during marriage. This is also proved by a decreasing support of the `double standard´, where men are more or less allowed to be sexual active, including premarital and even extramarital sex, but women are not. You also have to consider the women’s movement, when thinking about female sexual liberation. Both, sexual liberation and feminism, somehow worked together hand in hand to achieve improvement for women’s sexuality. In order to understand the gap between the new achievements and the nevertheless still exis ting resentments towards them, you need to know the situation prior to the 1960s, when the above- mentioned `double standard` and abstinence were in the focus of sexuality.
At a glance
- Grade: 2.0 (1.0 is the best grade)
- Compares Jenny Fields’s and Garp’s attitudes toward sexuality and lust
Contents
1) INTRODUCTION
2) THE QUESTION OF SEXUALITY AND LUST
2.1) JENNY FIELDS
2.2) T.S. GARP
3) MARRIAGE AND PROBLEMS IN THE FAMILY
3.1) NEW DEVELOPMENTS AND INFLUENCES ON RELATIONSHIPS
3.2) MARITAL PROBLEMS BETWEEN HELEN AND GARP
3.2.1) Family Roles
3.2.2) Extramarital Sex
4) CONCLUSION
Objectives and Themes
This paper examines how John Irving’s The World According to Garp portrays lust, sexuality and family relationships in the context of the sexual liberation of the 1960s and 1970s. It asks how far the novel’s characters reflect the period’s changing sexual attitudes and social roles.
- Sexual liberation and changing attitudes toward premarital and extramarital sex
- Jenny Fields’s and T.S. Garp’s contrasting perspectives
- Women’s sexual autonomy and the sexual double standard
- Marriage, intimacy and changing family roles
- Helen and Garp’s marital difficulties
Excerpt from the Book
New Developments and Influences on Relationships
The sexual liberation did not only have an influence on relationships and sexuality outside marriage, but it affected also marriage itself. Especially the wish of sexual fulfilment now expressed by the women changed the interaction between husband and wife. The changes in sexuality for women were examined and researchers found during the study of sex and marriage manuals, that there was a drastic change in the mid 1970s. In the early stages of sexual liberation, women were encouraged to enjoy sex, but still within a romantic relationship. The second phase included the possibility for women to have sex without a marital relationship while towards the end of the 1970s the ‘sexual autonomy’ proclaimed an absolute sexual independence for women. As well as this, other aspects, like open marriages or changing roles within the family, gave new perspectives for a close relationship between two individuals. Though some people think that the female sexual liberation may cause disagreement and conflicts between husband and wife, the new self-confidence of women can lead to a stronger connection, if the man is also able to accept progress and opens his emotional side.
Within the first years of a marriage the connection between men and women is often very close. This is reflected by the rate of sexual intercourse which is the highest in the first weeks of marriage and then steadily declines over time. Already in the first year, the decline, which is called the ‘honeymoon effect’, is the greatest. But you can not reduce sex to its physical aspect since it also a manifestation of other aspects in a close relationship. One of these aspects, and maybe the most important one, is sex as an act of self-disclosure, meaning that the partners reveal more information and establish a deeper trust in each other. Further aspects include sex as an act of intimacy (the sharing of emotional and physical experiences), as an act of love (express love the partners feel for each other) or as an act of interdependence (the strong impact on various activities of the partner).
Besides sex, there are other influences, such as general relationship satisfaction, a balance of investments into and benefits from a relationship – which is defined as equity -, love for the spouse and even the conflicts between the partners, that have an effect on the sexual side of a relationship and are as well affected by it. This interaction is visualized in the following figure.
Chapter Summaries
1) INTRODUCTION: The paper introduces changing attitudes toward sexuality and family life, placing the novel alongside the sexual liberation movement and its historical antecedents.
2) THE QUESTION OF SEXUALITY AND LUST: This chapter contrasts Jenny Fields’s attitudes toward men and sexuality with Garp’s experiences and considers how other characters relate to sexual liberation.
3) MARRIAGE AND PROBLEMS IN THE FAMILY: The discussion turns to changing expectations of marriage and analyzes family roles and extramarital relationships in Helen and Garp’s marriage.
4) CONCLUSION: The author revisits the relationship between sexual liberation and family values in Irving’s portrayal of his characters.
Keywords
John Irving, The World According to Garp, sexual liberation, sexuality, lust, Jenny Fields, T.S. Garp, marriage, family roles, sexual double standard, female sexual autonomy, extramarital sex, literary analysis
Frequently Asked Questions
What is this paper about?
It examines sexuality, lust and family relationships in John Irving’s The World According to Garp in the context of sexual liberation.
What are its central themes?
The central themes include changing sexual attitudes, women’s autonomy, marriage, family roles and extramarital relationships.
What is the main research question?
The paper asks how the novel’s characters reflect the period of sexual liberation and its effects on sexuality and family relationships.
What method does the author use?
The author analyzes characters and relationships in the novel alongside secondary literature on sexuality, marriage and social change.
What does the main discussion cover?
It considers Jenny Fields and Garp’s attitudes toward sexuality, then examines changing relationships and Helen and Garp’s marriage.
Which keywords characterize the paper?
Key terms include sexual liberation, literary analysis, female sexual autonomy, marriage, family roles and the sexual double standard.
How are Jenny Fields and Garp discussed?
The paper compares their different attitudes toward lust and sexuality and considers the expectations placed on them by others.
How does the paper approach Helen and Garp’s marriage?
It examines their household and professional roles alongside their extramarital relationships and changing expectations of one another.
- Quote paper
- Daniel Heuermann (Author), 2004, Sexual Suspects - Influences of the Sexual Liberation on Lust, Sexuality and Family in John Irving's 'The World According to Garp', Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/45335
