Women in Rabbit Run

A detailed Summary of Women in Rabbit Run

Women and Their Role In Updike's Rabbit, Run

Several common stereotypes of women are put forth in Updike's Rabbit, Run.

Utilizing the characters of Ruth Leonard, Janice, Lucy Eccles, Mrs. Springer, and Mrs.

Angstrom, Updike illustrates many different, classic, stereotypical views of women.

Through these women, examples of the whore, the wife, the (unknowing) temptress, and

the mother are presented. By examining each of these women, we learn about women as a

whole, and what they can be. There is no single dimension or picture of what a woman is,

or, for that matter, of what a human being is. The women in this novel are very

representational of images that are perpetuated by society. Updike illustrates several of

the innumerable aspects of a woman and womankind through his use of characters that,

while seemingly different from a distance, are not so dissimilar upon examination. They

are all, in some way, a form of protection standing between Rabbit and the outside world.

(Trachtenberg, 96) He shows, through the various portrayals of women, how society

views and classifies them. He makes them similar in many ways to show that a woman

can not easily be stereotyped because of the many dimensions to th

consciously to perpetuate the myth of her lust for him. When Jack Eccles goes to track

Rabbit comes back, she attempts to say no to him only to give up, and promise to take him

an individual and as her own person, and wants to be more than just Rabbit's wife. She

not get caught in the sticky, flimsy web made by Rabbit. He claims that she wants him

If Rabbit shows little respect for his wife, his mistress, or the wife of his minister,

succeed in her attempts to separate herself from him, even when he comes begging to be

degrades and abandons her, after he has gotten what he wants from her. He goes back to

drinking and mild complaining. Rabbit, insecure in his own desirability, sees women as

room if necessary. Together they are very nearly a perfect mother. Separately, they both

establish her own identity. Her husband has already left her once, while she was eight

Approximate Word count = 2630
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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