A Review of Natalia Ginzburg's ;He and I;

In the story “He and I”, a women discusses her married life. She feels that her husband’s treatment towards her has immensely damaged her independence and confidence. Her husband plays the role of the stereotypical man that expects all women to be subservient to men, which is why he continually puts the narrator down.

The possible theme to this story is the effects of machismo when dealing with women. The narrator speaks a lot about her married life and makes it seem like a misfortune to be married because her husband and her have nothing in common. Their views on the world are entirely different. There is a lot of feminist support in this story because the narrator strives for higher things, such as getting her license, but alas her husband won’t allow it and this makes her mad. The two different criticisms that can be used for this paper are Reader’s Response criticism and the Feminist criticism. The Reader’s Response criticism is important because it allows one to interpret the story in their own ways.

One can easily make connections to their lives because everyone has been put down at some point in there life. The Feminist criticism is even more important for this story because “He and I” demonstrates the effects of conformity to society’s standards and what subservience does to women. The piece of literature is something that should be read due to the strong implications of ani-feminism demonstrated through the story. It is important for current and future generations to notice and accept that everyone deserves to be treated eqaully, which is what this story shows when the narrator begins to question her marriage to her controlling husband.