Especially with the ending of “Two Friends,” most critics
would argue that Abby and Sarah’s relationship is homosexual. However, I will
argue that Abby and Sarah’s relationship is platonic. Freeman uses binaries to
distinguish the differences between Sarah and Abby when she writes, “Abby was a
large, well-formed woman… [she] did the rough work, man’s work of the
establishment” (412). Although Abby’s “large” frame may be overlooked by
readers, I think it is nearly impossible to overlook the “rough” “man’s” work
that Abby puts fourth. Contrastingly, Freeman describes Sarah as having, “[a]
little, slim, nervous frame [which contributed to] woman’s work” (412). Because
the “friends” live together and Abby is described with male features and Sarah
with female features, it is easy to place them in a homosexual box. However,
Abby and Sarah have known one another since they were very young. The friends
are in an economic relationship in which Abby offers Sarah a place to live, and
in return, the money that Sarah receives from “shares in the village bank” aids
the ladies with “food and clothes” (413). Sarah contributes to “woman’s work”
because she cannot physically contribute to “man’s work.” Likewise, Abby
contributes to “man’s work” because Sarah is already contributing to the
“woman’s work” and in order to survive without a man in the house, Abby who is
physically able, must contribute to the home in the same way a man would. Abby
and Sarah have developed a balance in their relationship which allows them to
survive without a male figure, even if that means that Abby must take on the
tasks of a man.
Rachel, Early in the story, I felt that Abby and Sarah may have had a lesbian relationship, but in the end I am not so sure. I think that your argument makes sense. But I suppose that it could be interpreted either way. I suspect, as Alex suggests in his post, that Freeman wanted her readers to think about the nature of the relationship between the female couple. It is possible, too, that the relationship was both homosexual and an economic arrangement. Sarah's guilt suggests something more than a platonic relationship.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Charles. I think that as readers we are suppose to be able to see something sexual between the ladies. However, I think each time we say that Sarah and Abby are lesbian lovers, we find within the context of the story something that debunks this claim, like my theory of the ladies economic relationship.
DeleteRachel, I would disagree with you and say that their relationship was not purely for economic reasons. I would argue that the way Sarah dotes over Abby (waiting for her, making things for her, and her general fondness of her) portrays deeper feelings than just friendship. I would also agree with Charles, that Sarah's guilt, and how she kept the information in the first place, suggests something more.
ReplyDeleteMorgan, I agree that Sarah is very fond of Abby in a platonic way because within close readings of the text, Freeman never states that the women are homosexual. However, I can see why critics argue that Abby and Sarah could be homosexual, especially when queer theory is applied.
DeleteRachel I disagree that the relationship is platonic. When we find out Sarah's secret and what she has kept from Abby it is a very emotional scene that does not suggest a jealousy over Abby being married and Sarah isn't, but rather a jealousy over someone else marrying Sarah. I also think if you look at Abby's confession before her death over not caring about John Marshall and the fact that she had arranged everything to take care of Sarah after her death. The relationship was intentionally made to look as if the two women were playing opposite gender roles so audiences could understand more clearly that this relationship was not strictly platonic.
ReplyDeleteAlex, I think your explanation of John's presence in the story which raises a red flag that Abby and Sarah are not in a platonic relationship is interesting. However, I would also argue (like we discussed in class) that Abby's reason behind telling Sarah that she never intended on marrying John may have been to keep Sarah from feeling guilty after she died. Another theory that occurred to me in class today was that Abby and John may have had a sexual relationship when they were friends (although I'm not sure if the timing of John's moving to Mexico would debunk this theory). If Abby's cherry tree no longer blossoms flowers, could this mean that she has been "deflowered" by John?
DeleteGreat debate playing out here, folks! I think you are all making good points, but like I said in class, in some ways the "are they or aren't they" question isn't something that can be settled. (Not that that stops us from looking for evidence!)
ReplyDelete