pilar and maria hemingway's homage to the "new woman of spain" in for whom the bell tolls

8/9/2019 Pilar and Maria Hemingway's homage to the "New woman of Spain" in For Whom the Bell Tolls

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S T A C E Y G U I L L 7

PILAR AND MARIA:

HEMINGWAYS FEMINIST HOMAGE TO THE NEW

WOMAN OF SPAIN

IN FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS

S TA C E Y G U I L L

Independent Scholar

PRIOR O HE OUSE OF HE SPANISH CIVIL WAR (1931-1936), the

New Woman o Spain was a recurring theme in the platorm o sweeping

social and political reorm proposed by the democratically elected Republi-

can government o Spain. Te of-repeated slogan reflected a major shif away

rom the traditional view o Spanish womens proper role as one o docility,

subservience, and invisibility, and towards one o empowerment, agency, and

autonomy.1

During the bitter and devastating three-year conflict that ollowed,this new eminist consciousness prevailed.2 In Women in the Civil War,

Catherine Coleman notes:

Te struggle or gender equality was one o the important social

battles also being ought during the civil war political party

propaganda promoted a new and positive image o the antiascist

Spanish woman balancing out the predominant image o woman

as victim o military action and rearguard repression. (50)

Along with the act that women played a large and important part in the

Republican war effort, this move towards gender re-identification offers a

unique context or examining Ernest Hemingways portrayals o Pilar and

Maria in For Whom the Bell olls.Numerous scholars have examined these

two characters in light o gender issues.3However, existing criticism has ailed

to consider how Hemingway might have deliberately inused his characteriza-

tions o the women with these significant changes in Spanish gender relationsduring this important historical period. In act, there are elements in both


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character o the new Spanish woman to La Pasionarias voice, specifically al-

ludes to her role as a representation o and spokeswoman or the redefinition

o gender roles under the Second Republic. In a study o Ibrurri, Writingthe Female Revolutionary Sel: Dolores Ibrurri and the Spanish Civil War,

Kristine Byron observes:

the Civil War held out the potential or liberation o Span-

ish women to a degree much higher than in supposedly more

advanced nations at the time, such as Britain and France. For

Pasionaria, the revolution was just as much about empowering

women as it was about empowering the working classes (163,n.13)

Ibrurri was a champion o womens rights5and consistently and ervently

urged the women o Spain to change their view o themselves: to become more

politically involved, to take an active part in the resistance movement against

Franco, and to rebel against strictures imposed by the Catholic Church and its

masculine authority. She distributed birth-control literature published by the

liberal anarchist eminist womens grouptheMujeres Libresand glowinglycommended women who joined the Republican army (called milicianas).6

Ibrurri did much more than just speak out; she also participated in these new

cultural identities, not only in her role as militant spokeswoman but also in her

personal lie. Estranged rom her miner husband, Ibrurri lived openly with

her 27 year-old lover, Francisco Antn Senz (Mullaney 235).

Hugh Tomas describes Ibrurri as a simple, direct and powerul wom-

an who represented the idea o revolutionary womanhood(9). Tere are

interesting parallels between the historic figure and Hemingways multilayered

portrait o Pilar in For Whom the Bell olls.Not only do the two women share

many physical characteristics, but Pilar also embodies Ibrurris revolutionary

spirit, charisma, and oratorical skill as well as her iconic status as a representa-

tion o, as Hemingway states in the film, the new Spanish woman.

Pilar and Ibrurri share striking similarities in physical appearance. In the

narrative o Te Spanish Earth, Hemingway observes that Ibrurri is not a

romantic beauty, nor any Carmen. Indeed, period photos o Ibrurri recallPilar, described in For Whom the Bell ollsas barbarous and ugly but braver


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10 T H E H E M I N G W A Y R E V I E W

Pilar is a woman o about fify almost as big as Pablo, almost as

wide as she was tall, in black peasant skirt and waist, with heavy

wool socks on heavy legs, black rope-soled shoes and a brown acelike a model o a granite monument. She had big but nice looking

hands and her thick curly black hair was twisted into a knot on

her neck. (34)

Pilar also embodies Ibrurris passion or the Republic and shares her

sharp intelligence and powerul and intimidating speaking skills. An intelli-

gent woman (FWB183), Pilar has a deep voice (34) and booming laugh(103). She believe[s] in the Republic(100), and Hemingway notes that i she

is provoked with someone, she can scare them to death with [her] mouth

(145).

Like Ibrurri, Pilar exemplifies the emancipated behavior endorsed by the

Mujeres Libres. She consistently ignores cultural propriety. Pilar proudly pro-

claims she has lived with three bullfighters (FWB60), brags o mak[ing]

love in Valencia with one (94), smokes (108), and discusses with Robert and

Maria how ofen the earth moved or her during lovemaking (190). Pilar

also advises Maria on things one can do or a husband (377). Te act that

she gives sexual advice to Maria, as well as the nature o that advice, conveys

that Pilar has broken with traditional eminine behavior in avor o the type o

emale sexual education advocated by theMujeres Libres: physiology, sexual

pleasure, sexual unctioning and contraception (Ackelsberg 167).7

Like Ibrurri, Pilar easily takes on the role o emale revolutionary leader

and clearly demonstrates her ability to inspire and mobilize. Afer demanding

that Pablos men change their allegiance (FWB62), she becomes Seora

C d d k it l t ll H I d N d


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ties early on: Without the woman, he concludes, there is no organization

nor discipline here and with the woman it can be very good (69).

While the similarities between Ibrurri and Pilar are numerous, I do notwant to suggest that Hemingway modeled the character o Pilar entirely on

Ibrurri. Several scholars have argued effectively that Hemingway drew his

inspiration rom various other strong and interesting women including Ger-

trude Stein, Pastora Imperio, Martha Gellhorn, and even Grace Hemingway.8

Ibrurri is, I suggest, only a partial model here. Moreover, towards the end o

the novel, the Pilar/La Pasionaria connection takes a quite convoluted turn.

Cary Nelson writes: It seems likely that Hemingway used the writing o

the novel to sort through his contradictory eelings about the very differentsorts o Republican supporters he met in Spain (Honor 25). Nelsons as-

sessment certainly seems to apply to Hemingways treatment o Ibrurri in the

novel. According to Hans Schoots, afer the Republican deeat in 1939 Ibrurri

lef Spain or Moscow in order to thereafer ulfill the role o mouthpiece o

Stalin (120). Perhaps or this reason Hemingway considered her reputation

orever damaged. In a letter to Jay Allen written ca. 13 January 1940, Hem-

ingway declared: Dolores always made me vomit always (qtd Baker Lie347,

629). How did these negative eelings about Ibrurri infiltrate Hemingways

novel?

One answer resides in Pilars mimicry o Ibrurris amous Tey shall not

pass! slogan with her own cryptic comment, that which must pass will pass

(FWB 58). Hemingway also discredits Ibrurris loyalty to the Republic

when another character alludes to the act that she has sent her young son to

saety in Russia during the conflict.9

Joaquin: Pasionaria says it is better to die on your eet than tolive on your knees.

Mierda again, the man said and another man said, over his

shoulder, We are on our bellies, not our knees.

Tou. Communist. Do you know your Pasionaria has a son thy

age in Russia since the start o the movement? (FWB332)

Tis comment is particularly pointed considering that, as Mary Nash points

out in Deying Male Civilization: Women in the Spanish Civil War, Pasionariasspeeches consistently hammered home the sacrifice o Spanish sons (58).


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to her as Guapaa term which, according to Mandel, means handsome,

brave (227).

Understandably, Maria has been severely traumatized by the atrocities shewitnessed and the terror she experienced. When we picked the girl up at the

time o the train, Raael inorms Jordan, she would not speak and she cried

all the time and i any one touched her she would shiver like a wet dog. She

was in a very bad state but now she is better (FWB32).11 Yet while Maria

has begun to get better physically and emotionally when Robert Jordan first

meets her (32), over the course o the narrative she undergoes a much more

subtle, yet deeply powerul transormation in her character. Examining this

transormation allows us to appreciate new dimensions and new identities inMaria, one o the two wonderul women in Hemingways novel.

Maria becomes progressively more assertive as the story unolds. Her sense

o agency begins with a desire to avenge the death o her parents. She asks Jor-

dan to teach her to shoot (FWB186), and confides to him that the ascists

who killed her amily and assaulted her are bad people and I would like to kill

some o them with thee i I could (381). With a resolve reflective o this new

assertiveness, she shows Jordan a razor blade, given to her by Pilar, which she

intends to use to kill hersel rather than suffer any urther degradation (186).12

But Marias transormation extends beyond a desire or revenge and a new-

ound sense o sel-agency.

A striking photomural by Josep Renau, exhibited at the Spanish Pavilion

o the 1937 Paris Worlds Fair, 13highlights the radical shif in gender percep-

tion which occurred during the Spanish Civil War and directly relates to this

discussion o Hemingways depiction o Maria.

Superimposed on an expansive glass wall, and standing side by side, arelie-sized photos o two Spanish women. One woman is dressed in a tradi-

tional, elaborately constructed, and richly decorated wedding dress. Te other

woman, a Republican militiawoman, is wearing an open-collared shirt and

trousers. Te woman wearing the traditional dress appears weighted down

by its voluminous multi-layered skirt and long sleeves. Her arms hang down

limply by her side, her mouth is tightly closed, and she stares straight ahead. In

comparison, the abric o the trousers and shirt o the militiawoman is light-

weight enough to appear to be moving as she strides confidently orward. Herarms convey strength and movement, as does her lef shoulder, which seems


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is uncovered and her hair is pulled off her ace. Unlike the bride in the other

photograph, this woman appears to be walking out o the display straight to-

wards the visitor. Te only adornment on her clothing is a leather strap across

her shoulderpossibly a gun holsterinvesting her with an aggressive and

militaristic persona.

Explaining the intended message o Renaus photomural, Jordana Mendel-

son writes:

Renau contrasted the Arxiu Mas image o traditional culture


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liberation o women under the Republic: shedding her age-old

traditional dress, the new woman o the revolution would find

reedom in her fight against ascism. (138)

Te legend on the glass under the militiawoman confirms this message:

Te New Woman o Spain has rid hersel o the superstitions and misery o

her past enslavement and is reborn and capable o taking part in the celebra-

tion o the uture (Graham 112 n.7).

For visitors to the 1937 Worlds Fair, the trousers on the miliciana would

have been the most obvious sign o Spanish womens new emancipation and

alignment with aggressive political action. As Nash explains:

or [Spanish] women the wearing o trousers or monos [blue

overalls] acquired an even deeper significance, as women had

never beore adopted such masculine attire. So or women, don-

ning the militia/revolutionary uniorm not only meant an exteri-

or identification with the process o social change but also a chal-

lenge to traditional emale attire and appearance.14(52)

Consider Hemingways image o Maria at the time o the ascist assault on

her villagea vulnerable and helpless young woman with long braids (soon

cut off and stuffed in her mouth), and wearing a long heavy skirt (thrown

over her head during the rape). Now compare that with the new Maria who

wears, interestingly enough, trousers and a khaki shirt, open at the neck,

who offers to hold the legs o the gun, and who announces to Robert, I

would like to go or a train with thee (FWB149, 290, 381). I we super-

impose these two contrasting images o Maria on Renaus photomural o thetwo Spanish women, the similarities are clear and thought-provoking. In the

same ashion as Renau, Hemingway deliberately and visually demonstrates the

change in gender roles during the Spanish Civil War through these two juxta-

posed images o Maria.

In In Love with Papa, Linda Miller discusses Hemingways use o vi-

gnettes which she describes as quick camera-like shots that zoom in close to

reeze the moment (13). Near the end o the novel, we find Hemingway using

just such a quick camera-like shot to indicate that Marias transormation hastaken another turn. While the passage seems to have gone unnoticed in dis-


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with him to track down the cavalry men he suspects might discover the guer-

rilla band. Despite her insistence Robert reuses. Hemingway then describes

Marias response:

I go. Her fist, clenched tight in his pocket, beat hard against his

thigh. He looked at her and saw there were tears in her eyes. She

pulled her fist out o his pocket and put both arms tight around

his neck and kissed him.

I go, she said. Me voy. I go.

He looked back and saw her standing there, the first morn-

ing sunlight on her brown ace and the cropped, tawny, burnt-gold hair. She lifed her fist at him [my emphasis] and turned and

walked back down the trail, her head down. (FWB292)

Tere are, o course, several ways the reader might interpret Marias raised

fist. One could argue that it is a gesture o anger or rustration. But placed in

the context o the Spanish Civil War, this vignette o Maria giving the clenched

fist salute o Republican Spain indicates that she too now ervently embraces

the movement.15

In eaching Representations o the Spanish Civil War, Nol Valis observes:

One o the most significant aspects o the war was the visual presence o wom-

en both on and off the battlefield (17). Many o these women were anonymous

heroines and a significant number o them lost their lives. Framing For Whom

the Bell ollswithin this unique social revolution deepens our understanding

and appreciation o the novel. In Pilar and Maria, Hemingway has condensed

his respect or the New Women o Spain, who during the Spanish Civil Warassumed their newound autonomy and directed it towards deending their


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ment, and how they demonstrated their strength and stamina. In For Whom

the Bell olls,Hemingway honors their courage and sacrifices through Pilar

and Mariatwo fine women who embody qualities o the New Woman oSpain.

NOTES

1. Te Second Republic endorsed reorms including the legalization o divorce and abortion, the

abolishment o the crime o adultery, womens suffrage (1931), maternity insurance plans, labor

legislation, education reorm, and civil marriage laws. Prostitution was declared illegal.

2. In Te Spanish Civil War: A Very Short Introduction, Helen Graham writes: Te military coup

unleashed what was in effect a series o culture wars: urban culture and cosmopolitan liestylesversus rural tradition; secular against religious; authoritarianism against liberal political cultures;

centre versus periphery; traditional gender roles versus the new woman (2).

3. Gender-related criticism o Maria and Pilar includes Gerry Brenners Once a Rabbit, Always?

A Feminist Interview with Maria, Wolgang E. H. Rudats Te Other War in For Whom the

Bell olls:Maria and Miltonic Gender-Role Battles, and Nancy R. Comley and Robert Scholess

Mothers, Nurses, Bitches, Girls, and Devils.

4. In Writing the Female Revolutionary Sel: Dolores Ibrurri and the Spanish Civil War, Kristine

Byron states that La Pasionaria was arguably the most amous Spanish woman o the 20th

century (138).5. In her autobiography, Ibrurri writes rom her own personal experience o poverty and repression

about the plight o the Spanish woman:

In the home, she was stripped o her social identity; she was committed to sacrifice,

to privation, to all manner o service by which her husbands and her childrens lives

were made more bearable. Tus her own needs were negligible; her own personality was

nullified.Tus was the tradition o generations. (60)

6. In Free Women o Spain: Anarchism and the Struggle or the Emancipation o Women, Martha A.

Ackelsberg explains: In 1936, groups o women in Madrid and Barcelona oundedMujeres Libres,

an organization dedicated to the liberation o women rom their triple enslavement to ignorance,as women, and as producers (21).

7. According to Mary Nash, Even in private, with their own husbands, [Spanish] women did

not openly discuss sexuality or reproductive issues because males considered any interest or

knowledge in this field to be threatening and even a sign o dubious moral standards or unnatural

desires (167).

8. Several critics have commented on the similarities between Gertrude Stein and Pilar. Joseph

Waldmeir, or example, observes that Pilar is a composite o a number o womenLa Passionaria

(sic) comes immediately to mind. But Waldmeir ultimately concludes that, based on Pilars

Steinian qualitiesstrength o leadership courage, conviction, commitment to the point ostubbornness Hemingway was thinking primarily o Gertrude Stein (43-45). Nancy Comley


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lesbian on the model o Gertrude Stein (46). Agreeing with Edward F. Stantons Hemingway and

Spain: A Pursuit(171), Allen Josephs believes that Hemingway based Pilar on Pastora Imperio

(76). In Te Priest Did Not Answer: Hemingway, the Church, the Party, and For Whom the Bell

olls, H. R. Stoneback concludes that Pilar is Hemingways secular reincarnation o Pilar, that is,

Nuestra Seora del Pilar,the Virgin Patroness o Spain (103). Jeffrey Meyers points out that Pilar

has more than a touch o Grace Hemingways orceul personality (337).

9. Ibrurris only son, Ruben, joined the Red Army and was killed at the Battle o Stalingrad in 1942.

Reerencing Hemingways slander o Ibrurri in the novel, Alvah Bessie points out:

It is true that Dolores Ibrurris two surviving children were evacuated with thousands

o other Spanish children to the U.S.S.R. early in the war. Hemingway knew o this. He

also knewor should have knownthat in 1936, when they were sent, Ruben Ibrurri

was twelve years old. (Postscript 14)

10. According to Carlos Baker, the character o Maria was inspired by a young Spanish nurse named

Maria whom Hemingway met in 1938 during the war. Te young woman had been raped by

Fascist troops early in the conflict (Baker 328; see also Bernice Kert 334). Jeffrey Meyers contends

that Hemingway based Maria on Martha Gellhorn (336)

11. In a 2009 essay entitled A Little Bit Crazy: Psychiatric Diagnoses o Tree Hemingway Women

Characters, Charles Nolan contends: Tere seems little question that Maria suffers rom post-

traumatic stress disorder (PSD) and is gradually recovering (117).

12. Wolgang Rudat and Gail Sinclair have also discussed what they see as Marias developing sexual

aggressiveness. In Te Other War in For Whom the Bell olls:Maria and Miltonic Gender-Role

Battles, Rudat argues that Maria has unjustly been stereotyped as being without individual

personality, as submissive and as unimportant to the overall theme o the novel, and yet, he

argues, she becomes the sexual aggressor in her relationship with Robert Jordan (8, 12). Gail

Sinclair observes that Maria has moved rom victimization three months earlier, to a seizing o

her will and her sexuality (102).

13. Sources or discussions o the Spanish Pavilion include Catherine Freedbergs Te Spanish Pavilion

at the 1937 Paris Worlds Fair and Jordana Mendelsons Documenting Spain: Artists, Exhibition

Culture, and the Modern Nation.

14. In Te Spanish Cockpit: An Eyewitness Account o the Spanish Civil War, Franz Borkenau writes: . .

. it would have been unthinkable beore or a Spanish girl to appear in trousers, as the militia-girls

invariably do (72). Mary Nash explains urther:

Although revolutionary/war imagery cannot be viewed as a direct reflection o reality, it

may point to readjustments in patterns o social behavior and representation o gender roles.

While a discussion o the cultural representation o the milicianaor the orms o womens

dress during the war may, at first glance appear to be rivolous or irrelevant, the construction

o gendered cultural and symbolic imagery is crucial to the exploration o womens experience

in the war (49)

15. Te clenched fist salute became an iconic symbol o anti-ascist solidarity against Franco and his

allies. Spanish citizens o all ages and rom all walks o lie, as well as members o the militia and

International Brigades, can be seen giving this salute in vintage newsreels, photos, and newspapers


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pilar and maria hemingway's homage to the "new woman of spain" in for whom the bell tolls

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