Poster: Anonymous
Subject: Re: Siddhartha and the Female Perspective |
I find this surprising because "Siddhartha" is a revolutionary work in its Eastern-influenced combination between the masculine and feminine. Obviously influenced by the yin/yang balance, it was a brave and new thing to consider. It only seems particularly masculine due to a very modern and ignorant perspective, one that has taken the feminine revolution for granted.
I believe that "Siddhartha" is the next step from "Steppenwolf", creating the actual androgynous mind from the split fantasy. In her novel "A Room of One's Own", Virginia Woolf discusses the androgynous mind, which is the supreme artistic mind. It's a combination of both male and female characteristics; the true artistic voice combines both so equally that it's almost impossible to distinguish between either. It's interesting that both were published during a similar time period.
Siddhartha may seem masculine because of Hesse's writing style and adaptation of the Bildungsroman, but not because of its content. The content seems more masculine, but that's only due to a sexuality and eroticism that is necessary to the novel. It's part of the realism that distinguishes Hesse's adaptation from the story of the actual Siddhartha Gautama.
Also, these kinds of judgments can't really be made without a good understanding Hesse's actual text. So many things are lost in translation and misunderstanding of Hesse's German, which is quite beautiful, tranquil and transcendent.
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