Siddhartha and Gender

[ConnieAnnKirk]

I'll start off our discussion with a few questions posed in the B&N.com classics edition.

At least one critic, Bernard Landis, has spoken of Hesse's philosophy as inclusive of masculine and feminine worlds. Which does Siddhartha belong to, or does he vacillate between the two? Is Siddhartha androgynous?

[Sunltcloud]

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ConnieK wrote:
I'll start off our discussion with a few questions posed in the B&N.com classics edition.

At least one critic, Bernard Landis, has spoken of Hesse's philosophy as inclusive of masculine and feminine worlds. Which does Siddhartha belong to, or does he vacillate between the two? Is Siddhartha androgynous?

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Hesse’s female characters in Siddhartha seem to be underdeveloped which could be a sign of the times, a sign of Hesse’s preoccupation with male characters, a sign of German culture, but Siddhartha himself combines male and female, the Jungian male and female – animus and anima – especially in his dream.

“Then he embraced Govinda, wrapped his arms around him, and while he drew him to his breast and kissed him, it ceased to be Govinda, rather it was a woman, and from the woman’s gown emerged a full breast streaming with milk, at which Siddhartha lay and drank; sweet and strong tasted the milk of this breast. It had the taste of woman and man, sun and forest, beast and blossom, of every fruit, of every desire.”

To be successful in self-discovery one has to integrate the shadow parts of the self, which means man has to accept his anima part and woman her animus part. Likewise, in Buddhist teaching, yin and yang flow into each other. I think that enlightenment is androgynous, therefore Siddhartha must be androgynous.

[Jackjoy]

After reading the pp's post I have to agree with him/her. This is the first time I have read this book and a book of "fiction" so deep and intense (I love it btw). I was truly wondering what was going on in Siddartha's mind regarding gender. I was wondering until he had the dream then met the female on the street and so on. Great book!

[SAT10]

We think Siddhartha belongs to a masculine world. He does not have many feminine characteristics. He is a very strong and determined man.