The Mailer Review/Volume 13, 2019/“Her Problems Were Everyone’s Problems”: Self and Gender in The Deer Park: Difference between revisions

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{{byline|last=Ren|first=Hujun|abstract= An examination of "Her Problems Were Everyone's Problems": Self and Gender in ''The Deer Park'' to the work of [[Norman Mailer]].|url=https://prmlr.us/mr16gord}}  
{{byline|last=Ren|first=Hujun|abstract= An examination of "Her Problems Were Everyone's Problems": Self and Gender in ''The Deer Park'' to the work of [[Norman Mailer]].|url=https://prmlr.us/mr16gord}}  


{{dc|dc=B|efore its publication in 1955,}} ''The Deer Park'' had been refused by seven publishers in ten weeks for no reason than its “six not very explicit lines about the sex of an old producer and a call girl.”{{sfn|Mailer|1991|p=330}}
{{dc|dc=B|efore its publication in 1955,}} ''The Deer Park'' had been refused by seven publishers in ten weeks for no reason than its “six not very explicit lines about the sex of an old producer and a call girl.”{{sfn|Mailer|1981|p=330}} After its publication, it received more criticism than praise, and “the most common objection to the book was its sexual explicitness”{{sfn|Lennon|1986|p=6}} because “in the early 1950s no description of sexuality, however evasive, was readily accepted.”{{sfn|Mills|1982|p=145}} In spite of responses from publishers and critics, Mailer refused to make any change of the original lines about “the sex of an old producer and a call girl” and the novel came out as it is now, with the sexuality of his characters to play “the more significant role” in the story.{{sfn|Mills|1982|p=143}} The issue of sexuality in ''The Deer Park'' has drawn much attention from critics. Nigel Leigh argues that “in ''The Deer Park'' sexuality is both foregrounded and incorporated into Mailer’s political epistemology”{{sfn|Leigh|1990|p=77}} and “Mailer investigates closely the sex lives of Sergius, Eitel, Elena, Faye and Lulu Meyers in a search of a discourse of pleasure.”{{sfn|Leigh|1990|p=78}} Robert Merrill holds that the novel is “only incidentally a satire on Hollywood or an outlet for Mailer’s philosophical predilections; at heart it is the story of a rather tragic love affair.”{{sfn|Merrill|1978|p=45}} Norman Podhoretz points out that “it is on the sexual affairs of his characters that Mr. Mailer concentrates in ''The Deer Park''.”{{sfn|Lucid|1971|p=78}}
 
. . .
 
===Citations===
{{Reflist|15em}}
 
===Works Cited===
{{Refbegin|indent=yes|30em}}
* {{cite book |last=Leigh |first=Nigel |date=1990 |title=Radical Fictions and the Novels of Norman Mailer |url= |location= |publisher=Macmillan |ref=harv }}
* {{cite book |last=Lennon |first=J. Michael |date=1986 |title=Critical Essays on Norman Mailer |url= |location= |publisher=G. K. Hall & Co. |ref=harv }}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Lucid |editor-first=Robert |date=1971 |title=Norman Mailer: The Man and His Work |url= |location= |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |ref=harv }}
* {{cite book |last=Mailer |first=Norman |date=1955 |title=The Deer Park |url= |location= |publisher=G. P. Putnam’s Sons |ref=harv }}
* {{cite book |last=Mailer |first=Norman |author-mask=1 |date=1981 |title=The Deer Park |url= |location= |publisher=Perigee Books |ref=harv }}
* {{cite book |last=Merrill |first=Robert |date=1978 |title=Norman Mailer |url= |location= |publisher=Twayne |ref=harv }}
* {{cite book |last=Mills |first=Hilary |date=1982 |title=Mailer: A Biography |url= |location= |publisher=McGraw Hill |ref=harv }}
{{Refend}}
 
{{Review}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Her Problems Were Everyone’s Problems: Self and Gender in The Deer Park}}
[[Category:Articles (MR)]]

Revision as of 10:43, 10 February 2021

« The Mailer ReviewVolume 13 Number 1 • 2019 »
Written by
Hujun Ren
Abstract: An examination of "Her Problems Were Everyone's Problems": Self and Gender in The Deer Park to the work of Norman Mailer.
URL: https://prmlr.us/mr16gord

Before its publication in 1955, The Deer Park had been refused by seven publishers in ten weeks for no reason than its “six not very explicit lines about the sex of an old producer and a call girl.”[1] After its publication, it received more criticism than praise, and “the most common objection to the book was its sexual explicitness”[2] because “in the early 1950s no description of sexuality, however evasive, was readily accepted.”[3] In spite of responses from publishers and critics, Mailer refused to make any change of the original lines about “the sex of an old producer and a call girl” and the novel came out as it is now, with the sexuality of his characters to play “the more significant role” in the story.[4] The issue of sexuality in The Deer Park has drawn much attention from critics. Nigel Leigh argues that “in The Deer Park sexuality is both foregrounded and incorporated into Mailer’s political epistemology”[5] and “Mailer investigates closely the sex lives of Sergius, Eitel, Elena, Faye and Lulu Meyers in a search of a discourse of pleasure.”[6] Robert Merrill holds that the novel is “only incidentally a satire on Hollywood or an outlet for Mailer’s philosophical predilections; at heart it is the story of a rather tragic love affair.”[7] Norman Podhoretz points out that “it is on the sexual affairs of his characters that Mr. Mailer concentrates in The Deer Park.”[8]

. . .

Citations

  1. Mailer 1981, p. 330.
  2. Lennon 1986, p. 6.
  3. Mills 1982, p. 145.
  4. Mills 1982, p. 143.
  5. Leigh 1990, p. 77.
  6. Leigh 1990, p. 78.
  7. Merrill 1978, p. 45.
  8. Lucid 1971, p. 78.

Works Cited

  • Leigh, Nigel (1990). Radical Fictions and the Novels of Norman Mailer. Macmillan.
  • Lennon, J. Michael (1986). Critical Essays on Norman Mailer. G. K. Hall & Co.
  • Lucid, Robert, ed. (1971). Norman Mailer: The Man and His Work. Little, Brown and Company.
  • Mailer, Norman (1955). The Deer Park. G. P. Putnam’s Sons.
  • — (1981). The Deer Park. Perigee Books.
  • Merrill, Robert (1978). Norman Mailer. Twayne.
  • Mills, Hilary (1982). Mailer: A Biography. McGraw Hill.