Brett and Jake: Spiritual Penetration?

Although The Sun Also Rises is narrated by Jake and is told from his point of view, the novel focuses principally on Lady Ashley, also known as Brett. From her demeanor to her appearance, Brett is a character who complicates the constructs of femininity and of gender in the novel. (Even her name is masculine.) Brett serves as an interesting complement to Jake, who admits on numerous occasions that he is in love with her and has been in love with her for some time. Brett confesses that she, too, is in love with Jake, but that doesn’t stop her from seeing other men and telling if not showcasing her spread affections to Jake. Jake’s impotence makes a romantic relationship between him and Brett impossible, so the two have to accept each other’s friendship. In the void of lust, Brett and Jake’s friendship blossoms. Jake comes to appreciate Brett for who she is without seeing her as a sexual object worthy of pursuit. Unlike the other male characters, Jake is able to maintain a steady, dedicated, albeit platonic, relationship with Brett. In a way, Brett emasculates the other male characters. She acts on her own volition; she sleeps with whomever she likes, and acts in a way that lends her pleasure exclusively. Perhaps the reason the men are so infatuated with Brett is because she keeps them at a distance and does not readily offer up her affection (as many female characters often do). The men can relate to Brett because she is almost like one of them.

There is one passage that I found particularly interesting. It is in Book 1 when Brett and Jake are riding around town (p 35 in my book).

“She was looking into my eyes with that way she had of looking that made you wonder whether she really saw out of her own eyes. They would look on and on after everyone else’s eyes in the world would have stopped looking. She looked as though there were nothing on earth she would not look at like that, and really she was afraid of so many things… She had been looking into my eyes all the time. Her eyes had different depths, sometimes they seemed perfectly flat. Now you could see all the way into them.”

This passage shows how Jake and Brett are able to share moments of intimacy without having sex. In fact, the passage carries in it several sexual undertones. The different depths of Brett’s eyes, and the fact that Jake is able to see all the way into them at that moment is almost sexual. It is as if Jake is able to penetrate her soul, and is able to understand and appreciate Brett on a deeper, spiritual level.