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A Woman on a Roof
5 pages, Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 1963
139 people want to read
About the author
Doris Lessing
464 books3,239 followersDoris Lessing was born into a colonial family. both of her parents were British: her father, who had been crippled in World War I, was a clerk in the Imperial Bank of Persia; her mother had been a nurse. In 1925, lured by the promise of getting rich through maize farming, the family moved to the British colony in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Like other women writers from southern African who did not graduate from high school (such as Olive Schreiner and Nadine Gordimer), Lessing made herself into a self-educated intellectual.
In 1937 she moved to Salisbury, where she worked as a telephone operator for a year. At nineteen, she married Frank Wisdom, and later had two children. A few years later, feeling trapped in a persona that she feared would destroy her, she left her family, remaining in Salisbury. Soon she was drawn to the like-minded members of the Left Book Club, a group of Communists "who read everything, and who did not think it remarkable to read." Gottfried Lessing was a central member of the group; shortly after she joined, they married and had a son.
During the postwar years, Lessing became increasingly disillusioned with the Communist movement, which she left altogether in 1954. By 1949, Lessing had moved to London with her young son. That year, she also published her first novel, The Grass Is Singing, and began her career as a professional writer.
In June 1995 she received an Honorary Degree from Harvard University. Also in 1995, she visited South Africa to see her daughter and grandchildren, and to promote her autobiography. It was her first visit since being forcibly removed in 1956 for her political views. Ironically, she is welcomed now as a writer acclaimed for the very topics for which she was banished 40 years ago.
In 2001 she was awarded the Prince of Asturias Prize in Literature, one of Spain's most important distinctions, for her brilliant literary works in defense of freedom and Third World causes. She also received the David Cohen British Literature Prize.
She was on the shortlist for the first Man Booker International Prize in 2005. In 2007 she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.
(Extracted from the pamphlet: A Reader's Guide to The Golden Notebook & Under My Skin, HarperPerennial, 1995. Full text available on www.dorislessing.org).
In 1937 she moved to Salisbury, where she worked as a telephone operator for a year. At nineteen, she married Frank Wisdom, and later had two children. A few years later, feeling trapped in a persona that she feared would destroy her, she left her family, remaining in Salisbury. Soon she was drawn to the like-minded members of the Left Book Club, a group of Communists "who read everything, and who did not think it remarkable to read." Gottfried Lessing was a central member of the group; shortly after she joined, they married and had a son.
During the postwar years, Lessing became increasingly disillusioned with the Communist movement, which she left altogether in 1954. By 1949, Lessing had moved to London with her young son. That year, she also published her first novel, The Grass Is Singing, and began her career as a professional writer.
In June 1995 she received an Honorary Degree from Harvard University. Also in 1995, she visited South Africa to see her daughter and grandchildren, and to promote her autobiography. It was her first visit since being forcibly removed in 1956 for her political views. Ironically, she is welcomed now as a writer acclaimed for the very topics for which she was banished 40 years ago.
In 2001 she was awarded the Prince of Asturias Prize in Literature, one of Spain's most important distinctions, for her brilliant literary works in defense of freedom and Third World causes. She also received the David Cohen British Literature Prize.
She was on the shortlist for the first Man Booker International Prize in 2005. In 2007 she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.
(Extracted from the pamphlet: A Reader's Guide to The Golden Notebook & Under My Skin, HarperPerennial, 1995. Full text available on www.dorislessing.org).
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
February 27, 2023
A Woman on a Roof is a short story narrated from the omniscient third-person perspective about three men who are working on a roof throughout a June heat wave. The men are all fascinated by a woman who sunbathes on a roof across and can't help but watch her, not only watch her but whistle and holler to draw her attention, as she stubbornly resists their advances, silently ignoring them.
The tension is palpable as their externalization of emotions from anger to desire become more and more intense in the face of women’s indifference, building up to the climax of the story, the confrontation of one of the youngest men with women, the one that had the most intense romantic fantasy with her.
The story explores themes of voyeurism, gender roles, and power dynamics but also it plays even more profound mind games with the reader, with more layers than meets the eye on the surface.
The first theme is an obvious one, the objectification of women, the male gaze in the juxtaposition of Lessing’s central theme of feminism and resisting intimidation and trying to escape oppression in a society dominated by men. Here, there is an intricate power struggle. The woman, who is never named, opposite to men whose names we know, wears red bikini pants and a red scarf over her breasts, the color symbolizing her confidence in her sexuality, even her power in it.
The image of a woman’s naked body bathing in the sun strikes an intense response in a man as she with her body has the power to completely change men’s inner state. From the feminist psychoanalyst theorist Dorothy Dinnerstein comes the notion that men's great need for controlling women and their objectification comes as a response to the fear of almost omnipotent power that women, that women assert over them unintentionally and intentionally, through pure existence. There is an inherent power imbalance of the sexes - men have to do things, get ahead, and accumulate wealth in order to be powerful, while the power of women comes from mere being. Even the passive presence of women changes reality and invokes, positive and negative, sometimes even unwanted reactions. The psychodynamic basis of patriarchy and men strive to oppress women because women, by mere nature, have a large amount of psychological, emotional and sexual power. The woman here is kind of symbolic of the goddess, the transpersonal, distanced, unattainable element of femininity that men desire but cannot reach.
Three men almost instinctively push back and what to assert their power over her making her, ordinary, domestic, their own property. The workmen symbolically represent the value system of the early 1960s, Lessing’s era, in which men had attitudes that were domineering and sexist toward women. The men in the story are assuming that all women should be home in the kitchen ready to cook. As the story continues their sexist comments also continue; "If she's married, her old man wouldn't like that" and "If my wife lay about like that, for everyone to see, I'd soon stop her". Through these quotes from the workmen, we are given insight into how men feel they are superior and they can tell women what to do with their bodies, being in eternal ambivalence of men - both finding the view arousing and wanting to forbid it. Men believed they had the power to control women and their actions, and that the women will be submissive abiding by all their demands. The woman is not only sexualized and put in the position of an object but she is also put in the position of property of men. However, the woman on the roof ignores the harassment and obnoxious behavior of the three workmen in this intricate game of power dynamics.
The way she is asserting her power back is through pure ignorance, silent resistance and giving them no right to infringe on her freedom, not letting men stop her in her intent, coming back to her roof day after day.
"She sat smoking, and did not look up, when Stanley let out a wolf whistle", and "the woman stayed on her blanket, turning herself over and over. She ignored them, no matter what they did".
The vivid, erotic image of a woman on a roof is also in stark contrast with the dark and mundane work of men. Which makes another layer important to the dynamics of the story - the social one.
Different roofs with the distance between them symbolize the different economical statures of the woman and the three workmen. "Her roof belonged to a different system of roofs, separated from theirs”.
A woman sunbather is in a higher economic class, with the privilege to see the heat wave as an opportunity for relaxing sunbathing, whereas men have to work dangerous, hard jobs in that heat. They were putting the blanket on to get some shade, they were in the end pulled from that job because partly the conditions were getting too harsh, too unbearable and they were in danger of overheating. Their extreme emotional response to women sunbathing tells us that there is more than sexual attraction at the core of it. Even the oldest worker, Henry, who seemed to keep his sexual urges in check, got mad, quote;
”They were all angry because of her utter indifference.”
I used that as I attempt to find an explanation for a phenomenon that I seem to observe over and over again, and that the blue-collars are much more prone to engage in group catcalling in the street than white-collars and typical middle-class men. The intense need for externalization of desire towards women in men working minimum wage jobs may come from the need to bring back their sense of power and agency they deeply feel they lost working such physically demanding, riskiest, dirtiest work for low compensation, while the rest of the world walks by (or in this case sunbathes) as nothing happens, while they are working jobs we as a society depend upon. This makes me think about our insensitivity towards disenfranchisement of the men, in history, and in the modern era.
It is also interesting to observe us readers' emotional reaction to the story, where we are instinctively more prone to sympathize and defend women, in this case, as a reaction that we are always less inclined to attempt to understand someone who is manifesting a behavior we don’t agree with, and whose behavior creates intense anger in us - especially in us women having to deal with similar unwanted and sometimes very uncomfortable interactions on the daily basis in our mundane lives, always carrying the risk of our physical vulnerability.
In reality, it is the woman in the story that ultimately has more power, and significantly better status in the long run than the three men that watch her, no matter how exposed she seemed in the climax of the story.
This story demonstrates the intricate complexity of all human interaction, even those that may seem superficial and easy to categorize as pure sexual attraction, those we are quick to make a moral judgment about. It is easier to make statements like sexual harassment is wrong, and much harder to try to understand the complex nature of reality in every situation and all social relations.
The tension is palpable as their externalization of emotions from anger to desire become more and more intense in the face of women’s indifference, building up to the climax of the story, the confrontation of one of the youngest men with women, the one that had the most intense romantic fantasy with her.
The story explores themes of voyeurism, gender roles, and power dynamics but also it plays even more profound mind games with the reader, with more layers than meets the eye on the surface.
The first theme is an obvious one, the objectification of women, the male gaze in the juxtaposition of Lessing’s central theme of feminism and resisting intimidation and trying to escape oppression in a society dominated by men. Here, there is an intricate power struggle. The woman, who is never named, opposite to men whose names we know, wears red bikini pants and a red scarf over her breasts, the color symbolizing her confidence in her sexuality, even her power in it.
The image of a woman’s naked body bathing in the sun strikes an intense response in a man as she with her body has the power to completely change men’s inner state. From the feminist psychoanalyst theorist Dorothy Dinnerstein comes the notion that men's great need for controlling women and their objectification comes as a response to the fear of almost omnipotent power that women, that women assert over them unintentionally and intentionally, through pure existence. There is an inherent power imbalance of the sexes - men have to do things, get ahead, and accumulate wealth in order to be powerful, while the power of women comes from mere being. Even the passive presence of women changes reality and invokes, positive and negative, sometimes even unwanted reactions. The psychodynamic basis of patriarchy and men strive to oppress women because women, by mere nature, have a large amount of psychological, emotional and sexual power. The woman here is kind of symbolic of the goddess, the transpersonal, distanced, unattainable element of femininity that men desire but cannot reach.
Three men almost instinctively push back and what to assert their power over her making her, ordinary, domestic, their own property. The workmen symbolically represent the value system of the early 1960s, Lessing’s era, in which men had attitudes that were domineering and sexist toward women. The men in the story are assuming that all women should be home in the kitchen ready to cook. As the story continues their sexist comments also continue; "If she's married, her old man wouldn't like that" and "If my wife lay about like that, for everyone to see, I'd soon stop her". Through these quotes from the workmen, we are given insight into how men feel they are superior and they can tell women what to do with their bodies, being in eternal ambivalence of men - both finding the view arousing and wanting to forbid it. Men believed they had the power to control women and their actions, and that the women will be submissive abiding by all their demands. The woman is not only sexualized and put in the position of an object but she is also put in the position of property of men. However, the woman on the roof ignores the harassment and obnoxious behavior of the three workmen in this intricate game of power dynamics.
The way she is asserting her power back is through pure ignorance, silent resistance and giving them no right to infringe on her freedom, not letting men stop her in her intent, coming back to her roof day after day.
"She sat smoking, and did not look up, when Stanley let out a wolf whistle", and "the woman stayed on her blanket, turning herself over and over. She ignored them, no matter what they did".
The vivid, erotic image of a woman on a roof is also in stark contrast with the dark and mundane work of men. Which makes another layer important to the dynamics of the story - the social one.
Different roofs with the distance between them symbolize the different economical statures of the woman and the three workmen. "Her roof belonged to a different system of roofs, separated from theirs”.
A woman sunbather is in a higher economic class, with the privilege to see the heat wave as an opportunity for relaxing sunbathing, whereas men have to work dangerous, hard jobs in that heat. They were putting the blanket on to get some shade, they were in the end pulled from that job because partly the conditions were getting too harsh, too unbearable and they were in danger of overheating. Their extreme emotional response to women sunbathing tells us that there is more than sexual attraction at the core of it. Even the oldest worker, Henry, who seemed to keep his sexual urges in check, got mad, quote;
”They were all angry because of her utter indifference.”
I used that as I attempt to find an explanation for a phenomenon that I seem to observe over and over again, and that the blue-collars are much more prone to engage in group catcalling in the street than white-collars and typical middle-class men. The intense need for externalization of desire towards women in men working minimum wage jobs may come from the need to bring back their sense of power and agency they deeply feel they lost working such physically demanding, riskiest, dirtiest work for low compensation, while the rest of the world walks by (or in this case sunbathes) as nothing happens, while they are working jobs we as a society depend upon. This makes me think about our insensitivity towards disenfranchisement of the men, in history, and in the modern era.
It is also interesting to observe us readers' emotional reaction to the story, where we are instinctively more prone to sympathize and defend women, in this case, as a reaction that we are always less inclined to attempt to understand someone who is manifesting a behavior we don’t agree with, and whose behavior creates intense anger in us - especially in us women having to deal with similar unwanted and sometimes very uncomfortable interactions on the daily basis in our mundane lives, always carrying the risk of our physical vulnerability.
In reality, it is the woman in the story that ultimately has more power, and significantly better status in the long run than the three men that watch her, no matter how exposed she seemed in the climax of the story.
This story demonstrates the intricate complexity of all human interaction, even those that may seem superficial and easy to categorize as pure sexual attraction, those we are quick to make a moral judgment about. It is easier to make statements like sexual harassment is wrong, and much harder to try to understand the complex nature of reality in every situation and all social relations.
July 5, 2023
A well written short story about a woman who decides to sunbathe naked on the roof of her own house. Three workers spy on her while working on the neighboring roof. They become more and more rude towards her even though she hides from them. One starts to fantasize about her while others call her names. Disturbing. It made me want to read more by the author.
March 5, 2023
A woman. Any woman. A piece of skirt - except she’s not wearing one. Phwoah!
In the space of a sultry working week and as many pages, three London roofers gawp at, wolf-whistle, fantasise about, and harass a woman sunbathing on a nearby roof.
At first, she studiously ignores them, but that merely fuels the passion of one and ire of another. Moving out of sight prompts them look out for her all the more, and her suggesting going to the public lido instead just stokes more resentment.
“He got drunk then, in hatred of her.”
She can’t win.
What makes the story interesting is the portrayal of the three men: Tom is 17, Stanley newly-married, and Harry is ~45, with a son Tom's age. They think and act differently towards the woman and the changing dynamics between them are especially well portrayed. I thought of the two waiters in Hemingway’s A Clean Well-Lighted Place (see my review HERE). That's a very different scenario, but way the men's different ages affect their outlook is handled in a similar way.
At first, I was sorry for Tom in his naïve delusions, but he is the one who oversteps the most. His “protection” of the woman is an entirely selfish way of trying to have exclusivity of what he fantasises is his: women exist to belong to and service men.
“Tom… felt she was more of his when the other men couldn’t see her.”
Image: Construction workers wolf-whistling at a passing woman. From a story about workmen being fired for such behaviour, back in 2011 (Source)
This was published in 1963. Actual wolf-whistling is thankfully rare these days, but the general scenario is still relatable, and it raises questions that apply just as much today:
• Should the woman have reacted differently?
• Should the older roofer (who keeps trying to tone down the behaviour of the other two) been more assertive?
• How and when is it OK for men to look admiringly at a woman sunbathing (is a public lido or beach more OK than a semi-private roof?)?
• How does social class fit into this story, and more generally?
See also
Lessing's novel, The Fifth Child, is a more explicit examination of the limits of acceptable behaviour, but in the context of a child with unspecified behavioural issues that impacts all of the large family in different ways.
Short story club
I read this as one of the stories in The Art of the Short Story, by Dana Gioia, from which I'm aiming to read one story a week with The Short Story Club, starting 2 May 2022.
You can read this story here.
You can join the group here.
In the space of a sultry working week and as many pages, three London roofers gawp at, wolf-whistle, fantasise about, and harass a woman sunbathing on a nearby roof.
At first, she studiously ignores them, but that merely fuels the passion of one and ire of another. Moving out of sight prompts them look out for her all the more, and her suggesting going to the public lido instead just stokes more resentment.
“He got drunk then, in hatred of her.”
She can’t win.
What makes the story interesting is the portrayal of the three men: Tom is 17, Stanley newly-married, and Harry is ~45, with a son Tom's age. They think and act differently towards the woman and the changing dynamics between them are especially well portrayed. I thought of the two waiters in Hemingway’s A Clean Well-Lighted Place (see my review HERE). That's a very different scenario, but way the men's different ages affect their outlook is handled in a similar way.
At first, I was sorry for Tom in his naïve delusions, but he is the one who oversteps the most. His “protection” of the woman is an entirely selfish way of trying to have exclusivity of what he fantasises is his: women exist to belong to and service men.
“Tom… felt she was more of his when the other men couldn’t see her.”
Image: Construction workers wolf-whistling at a passing woman. From a story about workmen being fired for such behaviour, back in 2011 (Source)
This was published in 1963. Actual wolf-whistling is thankfully rare these days, but the general scenario is still relatable, and it raises questions that apply just as much today:
• Should the woman have reacted differently?
• Should the older roofer (who keeps trying to tone down the behaviour of the other two) been more assertive?
• How and when is it OK for men to look admiringly at a woman sunbathing (is a public lido or beach more OK than a semi-private roof?)?
• How does social class fit into this story, and more generally?
See also
Lessing's novel, The Fifth Child, is a more explicit examination of the limits of acceptable behaviour, but in the context of a child with unspecified behavioural issues that impacts all of the large family in different ways.
Short story club
I read this as one of the stories in The Art of the Short Story, by Dana Gioia, from which I'm aiming to read one story a week with The Short Story Club, starting 2 May 2022.
You can read this story here.
You can join the group here.
January 1, 2024
A woman sunbathing fills three workmen with alternating degrees of lust, embarrassment, and hatred. Her apparent indifference to their caterwauling and whistling on first spying her seems to enrage the newly married man to a fever pitch of violence. The older man seems embarrassed and chagrined by the newlywed's reaction and the young man creates a weird fantasy in his head about her. Each seems to regard her behavior as calling for chastising or atonement as if they own her. If she has no man to tell her what to do, they want to take on the roll for the sake of the patriarchy.
February 6, 2026
She sat smoking, and did not look up when Stanley let out a wolf whistle. Harry said: “Small things amuse small minds.
A eterna questão da mulher sob o olhar do homem, sendo que neste conto de Doris Lessing três típicos trolhas a arranjar um telhado estão mais interessados em mirar, assobiar e incomodar uma mulher semi-despedida que lê e apanha banhos de sol no telhado a uns metros de distância. Cada um dos homens acaba por ter uma reacção diferente: o mais velho acha mais sensato parar, o mais jovem fica caidinho por ela e o recém-casado indigna-se com a falta de vergonha da impassível e descontraída mulher.
At this gesture of indifference, they all three, Stanley, Tom and Old Harry, let out whistles and yells. Harry was doing it in parody of the younger men, making fun of them, but he was also angry. They were all angry because of her utter indifference to the three men watching her.
‘Bitch,’ said Stanley.
A eterna questão da mulher sob o olhar do homem, sendo que neste conto de Doris Lessing três típicos trolhas a arranjar um telhado estão mais interessados em mirar, assobiar e incomodar uma mulher semi-despedida que lê e apanha banhos de sol no telhado a uns metros de distância. Cada um dos homens acaba por ter uma reacção diferente: o mais velho acha mais sensato parar, o mais jovem fica caidinho por ela e o recém-casado indigna-se com a falta de vergonha da impassível e descontraída mulher.
At this gesture of indifference, they all three, Stanley, Tom and Old Harry, let out whistles and yells. Harry was doing it in parody of the younger men, making fun of them, but he was also angry. They were all angry because of her utter indifference to the three men watching her.
‘Bitch,’ said Stanley.
March 2, 2023
2.5★
" 'She's stark naked,' said Stanley, sounding annoyed.
Harry the oldest, a man of about forty-five, said 'Looks like it.'
Young Tom, seventeen, said nothing, but he was excited and grinning."
I'll bet he was, at seventeen. These three men are on a roof in the middle of a heat wave, trying to fix the gutters, but it's so hot, they're burning their hands on the metal. Meanwhile, 50 yards away on a distant rooftop, they spot a woman lying face-down on a blanket, sunbaking.
Their conversation and banter continues while they try to rig up some shelter to work under. Young Tom, however, is captivated. He begins to dream about her and imagines she cares about him. He's pretty much set to become a stalker, I fear.
I don't think times have changed much, and what behaviour modification there is now among groups of men is just that - behaviour modification, due to laws and whatever the current political correctness is. I think the men who have always carried on like this would still do so if they thought they could get away with it.
Today, however, I think there are plenty of thoughtful, caring men who would speak up on behalf of their sisters, mothers, daughters, and friends. In 1963, they would have been made fun of mercilessly.
It's well-written, and Lessing has quite a reputation, so I expect I'll enjoy something else of hers more than this.
It's only a few pages long, and you can read it online here: https://fliphtml5.com/yehc/mtlp
" 'She's stark naked,' said Stanley, sounding annoyed.
Harry the oldest, a man of about forty-five, said 'Looks like it.'
Young Tom, seventeen, said nothing, but he was excited and grinning."
I'll bet he was, at seventeen. These three men are on a roof in the middle of a heat wave, trying to fix the gutters, but it's so hot, they're burning their hands on the metal. Meanwhile, 50 yards away on a distant rooftop, they spot a woman lying face-down on a blanket, sunbaking.
Their conversation and banter continues while they try to rig up some shelter to work under. Young Tom, however, is captivated. He begins to dream about her and imagines she cares about him. He's pretty much set to become a stalker, I fear.
I don't think times have changed much, and what behaviour modification there is now among groups of men is just that - behaviour modification, due to laws and whatever the current political correctness is. I think the men who have always carried on like this would still do so if they thought they could get away with it.
Today, however, I think there are plenty of thoughtful, caring men who would speak up on behalf of their sisters, mothers, daughters, and friends. In 1963, they would have been made fun of mercilessly.
It's well-written, and Lessing has quite a reputation, so I expect I'll enjoy something else of hers more than this.
It's only a few pages long, and you can read it online here: https://fliphtml5.com/yehc/mtlp
February 28, 2023
My friend, Kathleen, reviewed this story today and I was too tempted not to stop what I was doing and go read it.
Three men working on a rooftop watch a woman who sunbaths daily on the rooftop next door. The story is really about what the men are thinking while regarding the woman and what the woman thinks as she is spied upon, and how little those feelings and reactions match.
Three men working on a rooftop watch a woman who sunbaths daily on the rooftop next door. The story is really about what the men are thinking while regarding the woman and what the woman thinks as she is spied upon, and how little those feelings and reactions match.
February 25, 2023
In this story, three men working on a roof spy a scantily-clad woman sunbathing on a roof nearby. The story is about their reactions, and her responses. That’s about it, but what makes it interesting is what is behind those reactions. The three men are at different stages of life, and their feelings about the woman reflect their own needs and frustrations.
What comes across so clearly in Lessing’s prose is that each man in his own way has an expectation of the woman, feels an ownership of her. I found it chilling. Misogyny in action.
Do men still do that? Whistle and shout at women from afar? I’m old now so I’m not sure, but know they used to, especially when they were in groups with other men. It was disgusting, embarrassing, childish, and sometimes frightening. I remember at times singing Hold Your Head Up to myself as I walked by. “And if they shout, don't let it change a thing that you're doing. Hold your head up …”
A great empowering song. You can listen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvfxI...
What comes across so clearly in Lessing’s prose is that each man in his own way has an expectation of the woman, feels an ownership of her. I found it chilling. Misogyny in action.
Do men still do that? Whistle and shout at women from afar? I’m old now so I’m not sure, but know they used to, especially when they were in groups with other men. It was disgusting, embarrassing, childish, and sometimes frightening. I remember at times singing Hold Your Head Up to myself as I walked by. “And if they shout, don't let it change a thing that you're doing. Hold your head up …”
A great empowering song. You can listen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvfxI...
February 17, 2024
Very, very short story.
One might ask -what could be so interesting about a story of three men working while watching a woman sunbathe naked on a roof. Not my genre, but was intrigued.
The conversation these men are having isnt what I assumed.
One might ask -what could be so interesting about a story of three men working while watching a woman sunbathe naked on a roof. Not my genre, but was intrigued.
The conversation these men are having isnt what I assumed.
February 21, 2023
Three workmen are replacing gutters on a roof in an upscale section of London on an exceptionally warm day. They view a woman in a red bikini sunbathing on the roof of a nearby apartment building. The short story explores gender roles, sexuality, social class, rejection, and power. Doris Lessing published "A Woman on a Roof" in her short story collection "A Man and Two Women" in the early 1960s. 3.5 stars.
Read
July 9, 2023Três homens consertam um telhado debaixo do sol escaldante de uma onda de calor: um deles é tímido e muito jovem; um outro casou recentemente, e um último é um homem mais velho, pai de um adolescente.
Tudo isto estaria bem e seria comum, não fosse, de um telhado vizinho, se avistar uma jovem mulher que se bronzeia, que lê, que relaxa, ignorante dos três homens, dos três trabalhadores que a espiam.
"She's stark naked," said Stanley, sounding annoyed.
Harry, the oldest, a man of about forty-five, said: "Looks like it."
Young Tom, seventeen, said nothing, but he was excited and grinning.
Stanley said: "Someone'll report her if she doesn't watch out."
Aquilo que Lessing faz deste singelo enredo é genial: de uma forma arrepiante, tece toda uma história de tensão sensual e física como resposta à presença (e indiferença) da mulher e ao calor insuportável que rodeia os três homens:
Stanley let out a whistle. She lifted her head, startled, as if she'd been asleep, and looked
straight over at them. The sun was in her eyes, she blinked and stared, then she dropped
her head again. At this gesture of indifference, they all three, Stanley, Tom and old Harry,
let out whistles and yells. Harry was doing it in parody of the younger men, making fun
of them, but he was also angry. They were all angry because of her utter indifference to
the three men watching her.
"Bitch," said Stanley.
"She should ask us over," said Tom, snickering.
Harry recovered himself and reminded Stanley: "If she's married, her old man
wouldn't like that."
"Christ," said Stanley virtuously, "if my wife lay about like that, for everyone to see,
I'd soon stop her."
Harry said, smiling: "How do you know, perhaps she's sunning herself at this very
moment?"
"Not a chance, not on our roof".
O machismo latente, a violência e prepotência de um, o distanciamento de outro, as fantasias do último representam as diferentes posturas dos homens perante as mulheres e o sexo e mostram os condicionalismos de classe e idade que afetam estas relações de forma magnífica, e sempre, no caso de Lessing, desconcertante.
"Fuck it," he said, and sat down under a chimney. He
lit a cigarette. "Fuck them," he said. "What do they think we are, lizards? I've got blisters
all over my hands." Then he jumped up and climbed over the roofs and stood with his
back to them. He put his fingers either side of his mouth and let out a shrill whistle. Tom
and Harry squatted, not looking at each other, watching him. They could just see the
woman's head, the beginnings of her brown shoulders. Stanley whistled again. Then he
began stamping with his feet, and whistled and yelled and screamed at the woman, his
face getting scarlet. He seemed quite mad, as he stamped and whistled, while the woman
did not move, she did not move a muscle.
E embora, neste caso, a situação não tenha um desfecho negativo, não fica difícil intuir o que se pode seguir a esta obsessão animal, a escalada de violência facilmente se depreende da postura e linguagem destes homens. Felizmente, neste caso, ao sexto dia, o tempo clemente autoriza as tréguas.
Tudo isto estaria bem e seria comum, não fosse, de um telhado vizinho, se avistar uma jovem mulher que se bronzeia, que lê, que relaxa, ignorante dos três homens, dos três trabalhadores que a espiam.
"She's stark naked," said Stanley, sounding annoyed.
Harry, the oldest, a man of about forty-five, said: "Looks like it."
Young Tom, seventeen, said nothing, but he was excited and grinning.
Stanley said: "Someone'll report her if she doesn't watch out."
Aquilo que Lessing faz deste singelo enredo é genial: de uma forma arrepiante, tece toda uma história de tensão sensual e física como resposta à presença (e indiferença) da mulher e ao calor insuportável que rodeia os três homens:
Stanley let out a whistle. She lifted her head, startled, as if she'd been asleep, and looked
straight over at them. The sun was in her eyes, she blinked and stared, then she dropped
her head again. At this gesture of indifference, they all three, Stanley, Tom and old Harry,
let out whistles and yells. Harry was doing it in parody of the younger men, making fun
of them, but he was also angry. They were all angry because of her utter indifference to
the three men watching her.
"Bitch," said Stanley.
"She should ask us over," said Tom, snickering.
Harry recovered himself and reminded Stanley: "If she's married, her old man
wouldn't like that."
"Christ," said Stanley virtuously, "if my wife lay about like that, for everyone to see,
I'd soon stop her."
Harry said, smiling: "How do you know, perhaps she's sunning herself at this very
moment?"
"Not a chance, not on our roof".
O machismo latente, a violência e prepotência de um, o distanciamento de outro, as fantasias do último representam as diferentes posturas dos homens perante as mulheres e o sexo e mostram os condicionalismos de classe e idade que afetam estas relações de forma magnífica, e sempre, no caso de Lessing, desconcertante.
"Fuck it," he said, and sat down under a chimney. He
lit a cigarette. "Fuck them," he said. "What do they think we are, lizards? I've got blisters
all over my hands." Then he jumped up and climbed over the roofs and stood with his
back to them. He put his fingers either side of his mouth and let out a shrill whistle. Tom
and Harry squatted, not looking at each other, watching him. They could just see the
woman's head, the beginnings of her brown shoulders. Stanley whistled again. Then he
began stamping with his feet, and whistled and yelled and screamed at the woman, his
face getting scarlet. He seemed quite mad, as he stamped and whistled, while the woman
did not move, she did not move a muscle.
E embora, neste caso, a situação não tenha um desfecho negativo, não fica difícil intuir o que se pode seguir a esta obsessão animal, a escalada de violência facilmente se depreende da postura e linguagem destes homens. Felizmente, neste caso, ao sexto dia, o tempo clemente autoriza as tréguas.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 25, 2023
Three workmen on a roof during a heatwave see a woman sunbathing on her own roof and become steadily angrier at her lack of reaction to their ogling, wolf whistling and other harassments. Over the next few days even after she’s moved to a different spot they continue trying to get a reaction from her.
February 28, 2023
Three men in different stages of their life and different ages are working on a roof during a hot June when they see a woman tanning in a bikini on a neighboring roof. Lessing’s story is about the men’s reactions to the woman over the course of a week.
Although published in 1963, this is another great short with issues very relevant today.
Although published in 1963, this is another great short with issues very relevant today.
March 5, 2023
First of all, I had an annoying degree of difficulty navigating the online source for this short story, and that influenced my reading of this work. (The zoom was either too much or too little, or a function window covered part of the text, and frustrated my efforts to navigate; as a result I spent more time trying to read than actually reading.)
This is probably the only short work I've read from Doris Lessing. The story opens with "heat" and ends with "cool." In between, the three men working on a roof are each frustrated in their own ways, each projecting various desires onto a sunbathing woman.
Three stars because I couldn't easily read the text, and so failed to appreciate it as much as I might have if I'd read and reread the text as it required and deserved.
This is probably the only short work I've read from Doris Lessing. The story opens with "heat" and ends with "cool." In between, the three men working on a roof are each frustrated in their own ways, each projecting various desires onto a sunbathing woman.
Three stars because I couldn't easily read the text, and so failed to appreciate it as much as I might have if I'd read and reread the text as it required and deserved.
April 1, 2023
I read this story by Nobel Prize Winner Doris Lessing as one of the stories offered us in Good Reads’ Short Story Club.
Three men were at work on a roof in London on an extremely hot day. They could see over several acres of roofs.
They spotted a woman lying face down on a blanket. She was practically naked.
The story reports the various reactions of the three men and the relationship the youngest man feels he has with the woman.
Tom, who was seventeen, was “excited and grinning”. Stanley, who was a newly married man, let out a wolf whistle. Harry, who was the oldest at forty-five, said “small things amuse small minds”.
Both Stanley and Tom made a trip to the end of the roof to see the woman. Now she was lying on her back.
Harry also was angry. They were all angry because of the woman’s utter indifference to them.
As a woman, I fail to understand that, but I suppose it has to do with the egos of the men: they couldn’t bear to be ignored.
Though they see that the woman is indifferent to them, nevertheless, from the beginning Tom cannot understand they in fact have no relationship with the woman; they are observing her but she is not looking at them, has no idea who they are.
“´She should ask us over´ said Tom." (He thinks for some reason she is interested in them.)
The woman ignored them, no matter what they did.
When Harry went to get more screws, Stanley and Tom scrambled over the roof to where they could stand directly above the woman.
They whistled, she continued to ignore them and Stanley was furious.
Stanley hated the woman, while Tom, who had fantasized about her the night before, now loved her.
Stanley is angry because by lying there the womn has exposed herself to the men’s lustful gazes; she has done nothing wrong – she's just sunbathing. Everything is in the minds of the men but nonetheless his projection assumes the fault to be hers.
In Tom´s nightly dreams of her she had been kind and friendly, and this made him think that he knew she was so.
The next day she was gone. Tom felt alone. Last night “she had him into her flat”. She wore a black negligée and was kind to him. “He felt she had betrayed him by not being there.”
She eventually came out on to the roof and looked at them “gravely”, then went to a part of the roof hidden from them. Tom felt she was more his when the other men couldn’t see her.
Now he could feel the bond between the woman and himself.
The next day Stanley “whistled and yelled and screamed” at the woman. He seemed quite mad while the woman did not move a muscle.
Stanley and Harry went home. Tom slipped into the building on whose roof the woman lay. He emerged onto the roof couple of yards from her.
She stared at him in silence. “The boy stood grinning, foolish, claiming the tenderness he expected from her.”
She asked him what he wanted. He said he came to make her acquaintance. She lay down, ignoring him.
Tom is not able to distinguish his dreams from reality, so he doesn’t understand why the woman doesn’t welcome him like she had done in his imagination.
She hadn’t understood him.
She just lay and continued to ignore him. Resentment of her finally got him to leave.
The next day it was raining and no-one was sunbathing. Now it was cool, and the men’s feelings were cool.
The story tells us of men’s lustful feelings about a woman’s body, though they don’t know her at all. 17-year-old Tom doesn’t realize that his liking of the woman doesn’t mean that the feeling is mutual.
Three men were at work on a roof in London on an extremely hot day. They could see over several acres of roofs.
They spotted a woman lying face down on a blanket. She was practically naked.
The story reports the various reactions of the three men and the relationship the youngest man feels he has with the woman.
Tom, who was seventeen, was “excited and grinning”. Stanley, who was a newly married man, let out a wolf whistle. Harry, who was the oldest at forty-five, said “small things amuse small minds”.
Both Stanley and Tom made a trip to the end of the roof to see the woman. Now she was lying on her back.
Harry also was angry. They were all angry because of the woman’s utter indifference to them.
As a woman, I fail to understand that, but I suppose it has to do with the egos of the men: they couldn’t bear to be ignored.
Though they see that the woman is indifferent to them, nevertheless, from the beginning Tom cannot understand they in fact have no relationship with the woman; they are observing her but she is not looking at them, has no idea who they are.
“´She should ask us over´ said Tom." (He thinks for some reason she is interested in them.)
The woman ignored them, no matter what they did.
When Harry went to get more screws, Stanley and Tom scrambled over the roof to where they could stand directly above the woman.
They whistled, she continued to ignore them and Stanley was furious.
Stanley hated the woman, while Tom, who had fantasized about her the night before, now loved her.
Stanley is angry because by lying there the womn has exposed herself to the men’s lustful gazes; she has done nothing wrong – she's just sunbathing. Everything is in the minds of the men but nonetheless his projection assumes the fault to be hers.
In Tom´s nightly dreams of her she had been kind and friendly, and this made him think that he knew she was so.
The next day she was gone. Tom felt alone. Last night “she had him into her flat”. She wore a black negligée and was kind to him. “He felt she had betrayed him by not being there.”
She eventually came out on to the roof and looked at them “gravely”, then went to a part of the roof hidden from them. Tom felt she was more his when the other men couldn’t see her.
Now he could feel the bond between the woman and himself.
The next day Stanley “whistled and yelled and screamed” at the woman. He seemed quite mad while the woman did not move a muscle.
Stanley and Harry went home. Tom slipped into the building on whose roof the woman lay. He emerged onto the roof couple of yards from her.
She stared at him in silence. “The boy stood grinning, foolish, claiming the tenderness he expected from her.”
She asked him what he wanted. He said he came to make her acquaintance. She lay down, ignoring him.
Tom is not able to distinguish his dreams from reality, so he doesn’t understand why the woman doesn’t welcome him like she had done in his imagination.
She hadn’t understood him.
She just lay and continued to ignore him. Resentment of her finally got him to leave.
The next day it was raining and no-one was sunbathing. Now it was cool, and the men’s feelings were cool.
The story tells us of men’s lustful feelings about a woman’s body, though they don’t know her at all. 17-year-old Tom doesn’t realize that his liking of the woman doesn’t mean that the feeling is mutual.
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March 3, 2023https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Geschreven in 1963
Over bouwvakkers die fluiten naar een vrouw die in monokini ligt te zonnebaden.
Interessante discussie op Goodreads short Story Club.
Geschreven in 1963
Over bouwvakkers die fluiten naar een vrouw die in monokini ligt te zonnebaden.
Interessante discussie op Goodreads short Story Club.
February 27, 2023
Fascinante y aterrador cómo la autora puede describir en tan pocas páginas una situación tan cotidiana que muchas mujeres viven (el acoso callejero) y que no ha cambiado tanto en los últimos noventa años.
January 15, 2024
A short story depicting three men working on a roof during a spell of boiling hot weather in London. They notice a woman sunbathing on a nearby roof wearing a bikini. It goes on to describe how the men react by wolf whistling and shouting and the indifference of the woman!
I have read Doris Lessing before, The Fifth Child being a favourite.
I have read Doris Lessing before, The Fifth Child being a favourite.
July 9, 2017
The story of male expectations and a strong, resolute woman.
December 24, 2018
The great thing about reading short stories is that they make my Goodreads list appear much longer, as if I'm smart and have read a ton of books. I'm also not very shrewd, but this one appears to poke fun - probably deservedly - at the shallowness of men. If it were me working on a roof with a near-naked lady sunning herself on a neighboring rooftop, on the other hand, I'd never admit that I'd been staring at her. (After all, we all know what happened to King David.)
April 20, 2023
Doris Lessing's "A Woman on a Roof" is a masterful short story that delves into the complexities of human relationships and the power dynamics at play in everyday life. The story centers around three men working on a roof who become transfixed by a woman sunbathing on a neighboring rooftop. Lessing's writing is both evocative and insightful, with a keen eye for detail and a deep understanding of human behavior. The story is rich in symbolism, with the woman on the roof representing a physical and metaphorical barrier that the men must confront. The tension between the characters is palpable, and the story builds to a dramatic and emotionally charged climax.
At its core, "A Woman on a Roof" is a powerful commentary on gender roles and the societal expectations placed on men and women. Lessing explores the idea of the male gaze and how it can be empowering and destructive. The story is also a critique of traditional gender roles and the idea of male dominance, with the woman on the roof serving as a symbol of female agency and resistance. Overall, "A Woman on a Roof" is a true masterpiece of short fiction, a thought-provoking and emotionally resonant exploration of human relationships and gender dynamics. Lessing's writing is both evocative and insightful, and her story is a testament to the power of great storytelling. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a powerful and thought-provoking read.
At its core, "A Woman on a Roof" is a powerful commentary on gender roles and the societal expectations placed on men and women. Lessing explores the idea of the male gaze and how it can be empowering and destructive. The story is also a critique of traditional gender roles and the idea of male dominance, with the woman on the roof serving as a symbol of female agency and resistance. Overall, "A Woman on a Roof" is a true masterpiece of short fiction, a thought-provoking and emotionally resonant exploration of human relationships and gender dynamics. Lessing's writing is both evocative and insightful, and her story is a testament to the power of great storytelling. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a powerful and thought-provoking read.
January 7, 2024
Three men are working on a roof in Central London that overlooks many other rooftops, but it’s one roof in particular that has caught their attention, because on that particular roof is a scantily clad woman tanning herself. They try catching her attention by whistling and catcalling, but day after day she continues to ignore them. This short story follows the men over the next week as they attempt to get a reaction from her.
It’s free to read here - https://fliphtml5.com/yehc/mtlp
It’s free to read here - https://fliphtml5.com/yehc/mtlp
February 25, 2023
Lay back languorously to better peruse the melodious notes of this opus, left to right, left to right, up and down, up and down, and now at the end of the day, as I approach this piece of work, intent upon badinage pagination, I find myself, in character, as at a loss for words . . .
March 26, 2023
A short story relaying eye opening messages that happen in society
September 13, 2025
Siendo una historia de 1963, es triste saber que bien podría pasar ahora mismo 2025 en cualquier lugar de Latinoamérica y posiblemente del mundo, muy buen texto para la reflexión.
August 25, 2023
This short story by Doris Lessing is as powerful as it is compelling that depicts the behavioural disorder of a handful men towards a semi-clad woman on a roof.
Harry, Stanley and Tom are construction workers on a roof where they see a sunbathing woman in a bikini who minds her own business.
Over seven days, the reader witnesses the misogynistic and illusional behaviour of these men towards an anonymous woman on the roof, whilst the characterisation is quite fascinating to me:
Stanley who is married for three months embodies possessiveness by thinking he has his wife under control that she would never sunbathe in a bikini on a roof. Harry who is the oldest of the three men embodies compliance with social norms as he is an experienced husband and father. Young Tom embodies the disillusionment of a young adult that cannot differ reality from his wet dreams.
But THAT woman on the roof! She embodies strength to me. Being harassed by a group of men over and over again in a week and keeping your calm together and NOT getting inhibited deserves all HATS OFF!!
A semi-clad woman who completely ignores the whistles and cheering seems to be more sexually inviting to these men than than a fully-clad woman who actually invites them over for coffee and flirts with Stanley. Check your facts, Harry, Stanley and Tom - you are misinterpreting the intentions of these two women :D
This behavioural disorder displaced in the UK in the 60´s is still valid in some parts of Europe (villages perhaps) and other parts of the world. I don’t think that social class has any relevance to this behaviour as I have been around very well-educated men and women who displayed misogynistic or misanthropic behaviour.
Highly recommended!!
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Harry, Stanley and Tom are construction workers on a roof where they see a sunbathing woman in a bikini who minds her own business.
Over seven days, the reader witnesses the misogynistic and illusional behaviour of these men towards an anonymous woman on the roof, whilst the characterisation is quite fascinating to me:
Stanley who is married for three months embodies possessiveness by thinking he has his wife under control that she would never sunbathe in a bikini on a roof. Harry who is the oldest of the three men embodies compliance with social norms as he is an experienced husband and father. Young Tom embodies the disillusionment of a young adult that cannot differ reality from his wet dreams.
But THAT woman on the roof! She embodies strength to me. Being harassed by a group of men over and over again in a week and keeping your calm together and NOT getting inhibited deserves all HATS OFF!!
A semi-clad woman who completely ignores the whistles and cheering seems to be more sexually inviting to these men than than a fully-clad woman who actually invites them over for coffee and flirts with Stanley. Check your facts, Harry, Stanley and Tom - you are misinterpreting the intentions of these two women :D
This behavioural disorder displaced in the UK in the 60´s is still valid in some parts of Europe (villages perhaps) and other parts of the world. I don’t think that social class has any relevance to this behaviour as I have been around very well-educated men and women who displayed misogynistic or misanthropic behaviour.
Highly recommended!!
Find me on instagram
May 23, 2016
Though this story seems dated it is a study in resisting intimidation and maintaining at least a show of confidence. The men who react to a Woman on a Roof each have a story about her and develop a set of reactions from bullying to romantic to non committal.
It could be said that it is a feminist story because of the different gender roles of the players is set in the 70's. Reflecting on the story recently I thought the author did throw out a tidbit as to one improvement to the mysterious woman's reactions that might have thrown a little oil on the waters. But sometimes when one is asserting oneself for the first time one is more focused on resolutely resisting abuse than being nice about it.
It could be said that it is a feminist story because of the different gender roles of the players is set in the 70's. Reflecting on the story recently I thought the author did throw out a tidbit as to one improvement to the mysterious woman's reactions that might have thrown a little oil on the waters. But sometimes when one is asserting oneself for the first time one is more focused on resolutely resisting abuse than being nice about it.
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