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The Sun Also Rises, a la Shmoop. Lady Brett Ashley… is quite the charmer.

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She is also the only female of any significance in The Sun Also Rises. What a sausage fest.

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But we wonder… is Brett a sympathetic character? Let’s back up a tad and get a little background.

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Picture post-World War One Europe. Lots of people are dead.

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This doesn't stop protagonist Jake Barnes and his compadres from gadding about Paris

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and Spain…

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…drinking wine and fishing and watching bullfights, which sounds like a pretty cushy

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life to us.

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The only downside for Jake is that a war wound has rendered him impotent. Ouch. [2]Oh, and

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he's in love with Brett.

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Brett is...Well, she's something.

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She's hot, sexy, smart, divorced, and enjoys spending quality time with the fellas. If

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you know what we mean.

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It's pretty obvious why Jake would have a thing for her.

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Of course, every other male character in the book is in love with Brett, too, and that's

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the problem:

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…her only purpose in life seems to be to create conflict among men.

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We know from the get-go how Jake feels about Brett, and that he's felt this way for years.

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Brett, however, is engaged to a guy named Mike. That's two guys.

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Then there's Jake's friend Robert Cohn, who's recently had an affair with Brett. That's

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three guys.

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Then Brett falls for a young Spanish matador named Romero. That's four guys.

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Four guys. Where does she find the time?

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All that testosterone gets unleashed in bickering, insults, and fisticuffs during the bullfights

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at Pamplona. Way to stir up trouble there, Brett.

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Yet there are reasons to feel sympathy for the lady.

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Here she is, stirring up trouble across two countries, acting as if she has everything

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under control…

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…when in truth, she's been just as damaged by the war as Jake. She is vulnerable, even

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if she doesn't want to show it.

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Hemingway also makes it obvious that Brett is capable of great emotional depth.

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She is so in love with the bullfighter Romero that she ditches her fiance to run off with

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the young Spaniard.

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Not that the relationship works out or anything, but still, E for effort.

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Brett can be a difficult character to like.

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Sure, she's beautiful and intelligent, but she can't help falling into bed with every

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guy she sees, stirring up anger and jealousy.

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She pretends to be debonair about her actions but, in truth, she's as damaged by the upheaval

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of World War One as any of her male friends and conquests.

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She clearly wants to be loved, and is capable of love, but seems unable to reconcile the

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two.

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So, what do you think?

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Is Brett unsympathetic?

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Or does her love for Romero earn her some leeway?

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Shmoop amongst yourselves.

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[1]This intro seems a little misleading. [2]This is a little confusing since the question

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is about Brett and then we jump into a totally different character.

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[3]I think the issue is more that she takes pleasure in it.

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[4]Awkward.

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