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The Stifling of Femininity In Andersons Winesburg, Ohio, the women of the story are portrayed as being dysfunctional and having issues. Ranging from Alice Hindman in Adventure and her obsession over her relationship with Ned, to Kate Swift in The Teacher, who becomes an instrument of God to a peeping tom pastor (Anderson 91). However, one of the most troubled women in town is Elizabeth Willard. Elizabeth, who was once a lovely, vibrant young woman has decayed into a detached, and empty ghost-like individual, which spends most of her time in her room or wandering around her hotel. This transition, due to the effects of Elizabeths unloving marriage and the repressing of her femininity, validates the belief that The neediness, frustration, and failure that encompass the lives of [women]are the result of the discrepancy between their own capacity for intimacy, affection, and creativity and the inability of others, especially the men in their lives, to see, or to relate to who they really are(Rigsbee 179). When Elizabeth Willard was young, she led a life of spontaneity and tried to be a real adventurer in life(Anderson 125). She often found this adventure in the travelers that passed through the Winesburg; as she longed to be like them and one day leave the town as well. She longed for affection and intimacy, and unlike many women at the time, she did not repress that want. She didnt hold much regard for the typical female gender roles of the time. Once she startled the town by putting on mens clothes and riding a bicycle (Anderson 20). She had that special something growing inside of her and was not afraid to express her femininity and independency (Anderson 19). Elizabeth, like many other women at the time, wanted to find a true love. She sought blindly, passionately, [for] some hidden wonder in life, and in hope of finding this, she turned to marriage (Anderson 125). She believed that marriage might be full of some hidden significance, but soon finds out that is not the case as she falls into a loveless marriage with Tom (Anderson 125). Later in her life she realizes the mistake she had made and tells Dr. Reefy that it wasnt Tom I wanted, it was marriage; along with the fulfillment she was lead to believe it would bring (Anderson 126). Through this, Elizabeth loses her vitality because her insensitive husband doesnt have the capacity to realize and nurture the feminine qualities that she possesses, and loses the ambitions and hopes that define her. Anderson regards the failure to find fulfillment in love as a crucial issue of female identity(Rigsbee 183, 180).Because Elizabeth does not find fulfillment in her marriage, she wholeheartedly dedicates herself to watching out for her son George and tries to protect the creativity of her son from her husbands materialistic ambitions(Rigsbee 183). She notices that George has a secret something that is striving to grow, and realizes this is what she possessed as a young women, but now lacks (Anderson 19). She makes it her job to make sure it does not die in him like it did in her. Her will to protect her son even goes as far as to lead her to contemplate murdering her husband which had chosen to be the voice of evil when he had talked to George about his future (Anderson 20). Through her longing for George to escape Winesburg and her affection for him, she gains strength. Elizabeth gains a true friend in Dr. Reefy, as they do not define one another in strict gender or social roles but rather as two people who enjoy each others companionship. Something inside them meant the same thing, wanted the same release, and through this create a relationship (Anderson 123). Because Elizabeth can express herself and communicate with Dr. Reefy, a level of intimacy and understanding is achieved, which briefly changes Elizabeth from the tired women she is, back to her younger, more passionate self. The intimacy is achieved because Dr. Reefy possesses the sensitivity and wisdom that enabled him to appreciate the hidden identity of the woman (Rigsbee 184). Their relationship, through this understanding, achieves the deep, intimate communion which the women of Winesburg are seekingwhen traditional role expectations and conventional morality are transcended (Rigsbee 181). However, the intimacy of the moment is eventually lost and Elizabeth stifles the feminine values she posses and returns to the detached life she had been living. Elizabeth gives up hope that anyone, except death, will accept her, and closes off communication with Dr. Reefy, once again closing herself out from the outside world. By suppressing her natural creativity and longing for intimacy and affection, Elizabeth becomes tired and withered. Her communication with Dr. Reefy, the only one in town that had the capacity to understand her, freed her mind and let the flow of femininity to briefly spring forth once again. Anderson certainly recognized that those qualities associated with the femininevulnerability, tenderness, and the need for intimacyshould be valued and nurtured by society rather than repressed (Rigsbee 188). Elizabeth, just like many of the women in Winesburg, does not have someone to nurture her feminine qualities. The stifling of these natural desires for affection and intimacy lead to a disordered sense of self value and unhealthy relationships with others. Because of these repressed qualities of femininity, the characters of Winesburg, Ohio lead lives full of frustration and discontent, unable to truly understand one another and themselves.

Works CitedAnderson, Sherwood. Winesburg, Ohio. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1996. Print. Rigsbee, Sally Adair. The Feminine in Winesburg, Ohio. Studies in American Fiction 9 (Fall 1981): 233-44. Winesburg, Ohio: A Norton Critical Edition. Eds. Charles E. Modlin and Ray Lewis White. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc, 1996. 178-88. Print.