Feminist Readings of Weltys The Golden Apples :: Endora Welty The Golden Apples

Feminist Readings of Welty's The Golden Apples Jennifer Thomas writes in her article about a study of short fiction done by Carol Ann Johnston. The study targets feminist readings of Welty's writings and focuses primarily on female characters of her works. When discussing The Golden Apples, Thomas determines it was the 'tour de force', or exceptional achievement, in Johnston's study of Welty's collections. In Johnston's study she writes of the 'self-realized women' of The Golden Apples, using character Virgie Rainey as her example. The critical article contends that in Johnston's study, her selection of contemporary critics Daniale Pitavy-Souques and Patricia Yaeger are excellent choices to include since they had recently assessed Welty within currents of modernism and feminism. She then goes on to critique Johnston for oversimplification of the terms of the stories she is analyzing by citing an example from "June Recital": An angry old man flaps open his bathrobe, exposing himself to young girls taking their piano lessons in "June Recital," a display that provides, according to Johnston "a blatant show of phallic strength, [as] he attempts to silence the female voice."In the context of the story, however, the narrator freely voices her estimate of this "old turkey gobbler" and suggests he poses no such potent threat. Some of Johnston's most convincing readings concern Welty's identification with her characters, refuting the assumption that the heroine is the author's stand-in. By keeping her eye on the writer of "June Recital," Johnston astutely reminds us: "Welty identifies with Miss Eckhart, but she writes Virgie's story. (Thomas) I strongly agree with Johnston's statement that Welty has identification to her characters, whether intentional or not. She notes that although she believes Welty identifies with Miss Eckhart in "June Recital", she writes the story for Virgie. Consistently in her stories in The Golden Apples, she writes of sheltered individuals within a close community. Johnston addresses only the identification Welty has to her characters, instead of digging deeper into relational issues. I find it fascinating that in The Golden Apples, Welty paints a picture of Miss Eckhart's life as being ideal, free to follow her own passion and art, which in Miss Eckhart's case was her piano teaching, or in Welty's life, her photography and even her writing. And at the same time, Miss Eckhart has failed relationships and an overall lonely sense about her.