A woman's writing trick: adaptation

[Brian G Turner]

An interesting discussion piece on an essay, that raises the point that women novelists have been applying a neat trick of insight that men rarely attempt:
http://jezebel.com/one-weird-trick-that-makes-a-novel-addictive-1757781864

here’s a novelistic technique that early nineteenth century female writers invented, which has been used primarily by female novelists ever since ... It’s the technique of adaptation.

Adaptation is a kaleidoscopic way of understanding human nature, and a novelistic technique for showing that character isn’t fixed. In real life, people change constantly, depending on who’s in the room, or what they’ve each understood of the others’ nature and mood. Character isn’t only a ball rolling down a hill, these women write it like a game of billiards, with endless potential shifts and ricochets. These female characters aren’t just judging which man’s mind will give them the best hope for a respectful marriage; they are describing and creating a frame for the ways people create themselves in relation to others.

She uses Pride and Prejudice as the first example, but I found the Douglas Adams quote more succint:

I remembered a quote from Douglas Adams:

"It is difficult to be sat on all day, every day, by some other creature, without forming an opinion on them. On the other hand, it is perfectly possible to sit all day, every day, on top of another creature and not have the slightest thought about them whatsoever."

In Adams’s context, he’s talking about a horse and rider, but I thought: Female novelists have been writing from the role of the horse.

In literature and life, it’s been a woman’s survival tactic to understand and adapt to the character of a man, whether her boyfriend, husband or father. Even with property rights, women are still often the meteorologists of mood—and FEMA when things get bad. Men haven’t been forced to form opinions about the minds of women to the same degree, and Waldman makes the strong case that there’s a difference in the ways relationships are described in their fiction.

 

[The Big Peat]

I'm saving that and keeping it for later re-reads, as I like the idea a lot. Thanks Brian.

 

[Pentagon]

It seems kinda obvious, but I'm sure we don't do it naturally!