Michelle Garcias Garcias 1

November 23, 2009

MLA Short Story Paper

Fay Weldon: Distinctive Style

Fay Weldon is an author who through her works has sparked her readers’ minds

with her style and passion of writing. Not only is she an author of countless novels but

she has an amazing collection of short stories. Of which, many are in collected works

such as Wicked Women. In her short stories Weldon expresses her views on the role of

women in a male dominated society and yet she still depicts women as the heroines of

her stories. Even early on in her life she felt that she was oppressed as woman herself.

In fact, her christened name was Franklin and Weldon “feels contributed to her being

accepted at St Andrews and permitted to study economics; the school assumed she

was a male student applicant.” (RedMood.com). Some critics say, “her characteristics

of men are shallow and overly negative.” (eNotes.com, Fay Weldon Critisim Vol.122).

Yet, she also expresses the view that women are responsible for their own lives. Lana

Faulks says the following of Weldon’s stories: “Human beings in Weldon's fiction err in a

ridiculous fashion, including the female characters who are often complicit in their own

oppression.” (Faulks 102). In many of her works she writes about women betraying

other women. She expresses her political ideals and has a willingness to engage and

express her views in controversial issues. Weldon uses satirical perspective on gender
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politics, and steers away from cliché conventions in her works, and uses women

betraying other women as a constant theme.

Fay Weldon uses a satirical perspective in most of her work because she has

contempt for the idea that women are the inferior rather than equal to men. In her

collection of short stories, entitled Wicked Women, she displays many examples of

satirical perspective. It is common to find a woman being undermined by men. But in

Fay Weldon’s short story “End of the Line” the character Weena does not allow a man

to undermine her. In fact, she makes the man feel guilty for his actions. “I always take

money from a man’s wallet if he falls asleep after sex. It’s policy. It repairs my self

esteem.” (Wicked Women 11). Clearly Weena takes matters into her own hands and

deals with issues independently. She is responsible for her actions and taking charge of

the consequences. Another example can be found in “Wasted Lives”, the second short

story found in her collection. Here we have the speaker, a man, thinking mostly to

himself about his “relationship” with Milena. It is expected that he is in love with her;

even Milena suspects this, though it is not the case. “If only I was in love with Milena.”

(Wicked Women 93). In this passage the speaker leads her on with his kind gestures

and frequent walks, yet is deceiving her constantly. Weldon depicts the speaker as

being unknowingly manipulative of her feelings. In addition to these examples, there is

yet another in her collection. In “Leda and the Swan” we have a man who wants to keep

his wife in the shadows. He was not being honest and open with his wife at all. One

cannot expect to remain in a healthy relationship without honesty. “He would volunteer

information about his past but he did not like his wife to be too inquisitive.” (Wicked
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Women 112). In the story “Through a Dustbin, Darkly” we have a pregnant woman who

is blindly mistreated by her husband. Weldon states “Basil likes a woman to be a

woman: simple, and sweet and fertile.” (Wicked Women 185). The man is solely

concerned about his wife being the simple minded and passive person and thinks that

her purpose is to give him children. Weldon uses satirical perspective to show the irony

of what should be, in her feminist point of view, as to what is.

Another style of Weldon’s is how she steers away from clichéd conventions. There

are norms in which we all accept and abide by in society, such as a man standing by his

family. However in Fay Weldon’s story there is no “norm” but reality as she sees it. In

her story “End of the Line”, Def abandons his wife and daughter emotionally to be with

Weena. “...said Defoe.’ Let her live by it…Me, I have you.” (Wicked Women 54)

Another situation is that a husband should be proud of his wife. Even in the chance that

he doesn’t love her, the fact that she does well in an area reflects a sense of pride for

the man. In “Leda and the Swan” it states “ ‘Of course the back stroke is one that

requires real swimming talent.’ said Gosling. It was his own best stroke, and Leda’s

weakest.” (Wicked Women 117 ). He belittles his wife and reminds her that she is still

beneath him. Similarly the norms for a man are to take care of the woman and provide

shelter and a home. Basil of “Through a Dustbin, Darkly” allows his pregnant fiancé take

care of all of this. “She called in a carpenter… she hired an electrician… over and over

she washed wide stretches of dark green floor tiles.” (Wicked Women 181). The last

example is a when a man tries to break up with a woman. Typically, the man is straight

forward and will say good bye, which is followed by arguing and crying. However, this
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man tries his best to avoid confronting the situation like a real man but instead tries to

turn the argument around by making her seem as if she is the one who is deceiving him.

In “Wasted Lives” the speaker states “I discovered I was not so much jealous as rather

hoping for evidence of Milena’s infidelity, which would let me off whatever vague hook it

was I found myself upon.” (Wicked Women 94-95). This is a man trying to justify his

actions by playing the victim.

The last style of Weldon’s is her constant theme of women betraying other

women. In many of her stories this is the recurrent theme. Men are typically the pawns

of deception in many of her stories. The real controversy is between the women who

know the truth, and the women who are blind to it. In the story “End of the Line”, Weena

snaps at Elaine with the truth as she knows it. She says “I’m the one who loves Def

properly… I’m the one who can make him happy.” (Wicked Women 52). Clearly she

states the relationship between herself and Defoe and lets Elaine know that she is not

the one Defoe wants. In the story “Wasted Lives” it says, “She and I had always been

discreet: I had not mentioned our relationship to a soul back home. Milena was in

another country; she did not really count…” (Wicked Women 95). This is the betrayal of

the mistress, even thought Milena herself is being betrayed. In “Leda and the Swan”,

Weldon depicts the situation of Leda conversing with another woman who bluntly says

to her, “This one’s mother should have called him Jack Rabbit.” (Wicked Women 119).

This is the example of how there is no shame of telling another woman that you are

sleeping with her husband. Finally, in Weldon’s story “Through a Dustbin Darkly”, Ruthy

(who is sleeping with Philly’s husband) discusses with Philly about her husband’s
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previous marriage. She says, “She loved Basil. A pity he didn’t love her. But then he

probably can’t love anybody. Not really.” (Wicked Women 186). This would be painful to

hear as a wife, having to fear that you may never have the true love of your husband.

What makes it worse is when it is heard from the woman that your husband is sleeping

with. Ruthy betrays Philly in this way because she is knowingly causing her pain.

Weldon shows that even women can either be victims, or they can be each other’s own

enemy.

In Fay Weldon’s short stories such as “End of the Line”, “Wasted Lives” and

“Through a Dustbin, Darkly” we see her writing style through the use of satirical

perspective, moving away from clichéd conventions, and the theme of betrayal between

women. Many of her short stories depict her unique style. She incorporates her feminist

views and her own life experiences in her writings. Her style is what makes her one

memorable writer that through her controversial issues can capture our attention until

the very end.

 Works Cited

Eliasson, Anna. "Fay Weldon: Biography." Fay Weldon (Un)official Web Page. 2004.

Redmood.com, Web. 9 Dec 2009. <http://www.redmood.com/weldon/biography.html>.

Faulks, Lana. "Fay Weldon." Twayne's English Authors Series (1998): 102. Web. 9 Dec 2009.

<http://www.paperbackswap.com/book/details/9780805716436-

Fay+Weldon+Twaynes+English+Authors+Series>.

Weldon, Fay. Wicked Women: End of the Line; Wasted Lives; Leda and the Swan; Through a

Dustbin, Darkly. 1st paperback edition. New York, NY: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1997.

"Weldon, Fay (Vol. 122) - Introduction." Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Jeffrey W. Hunter.

Vol. 122. Gale Cengage, 2000. eNotes.com. 2006. 14 Dec, 2009

<http://www.enotes.com/contemporary-literary-criticism/

weldon-fay-vol-122> Fay Weldon, http://redmood.com/, (August 8, 2000).