In The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway, why does Lady Brett lack self-respect?

This is
an interesting question, since Lady Brett Ashley spends most of the novel demonstrating that she
does, indeed, lack self-respect. Most of what we see is evidence of this condition, however,
rather than any long discussion or many thoughtful introspections about why
she acts as she does. 

Brett is the only significant female character in
by , and she has connections, of one sort or another, to every male
character in the novel. Undoubtedly she does not have a healthy respect for herself or her
body.

Brett is "damned good looking" and has no trouble attracting
men. In fact, every major male character in this novel claims to love her, or at least desire
her. Just like the men, she smokes, drinks, and is never criticized for her provocative clothing
or her promiscuous behavior. She is strong and independent in many ways, and we see that as she
maintains the control in her relationships. Despite all of these things, however, she is clearly
a lost and wounded soul who knows she is hurting others but is unmoved by this fact. She is
careless of things (her cigarette ashes on Jake's rugs) and of people (too many examples to
cite), which is a clear indication that she places value on nothing--including
herself. 

So, the question of what caused this kind of aimlessness and
self-loathing is a good one, and it seems to me there are only two possibilities. First, she
does seem to be trying to somehow recreate the experience and satisfaction she had with the
lover who dies of dysentery, the man she calls her "own true love." Once she loses
this, she spends the rest of her life trying to somehow recapture it. The closest she gets is
Jake, I suppose, but of course it is not the same. This constant quest for fulfillment is an
indication that something is missing, and it is this lacking thing, this fulfillment, which
seems to be causing her self-hating behaviors.

The other possibility is
connected to the first. Hemingway, of course, was part of what is referred to as the "lost
generation." After World War I, things were changing and the traditional roles of men and
women were being questioned, overturned, and reshaped. The lost generation was searching for
both meaning and identity, and they turned to alcohol, sex, and other forms of pleasure to find
them. Their excessive pleasure-seeking made things worse, of course, because it simply added to
the confusion. 

In this novel, it is clear that both Jake and Brett are
representative of the lost generation. Brett seems to be the epitome of the modern woman, short
hair and all; however, she is trapped by her own need to be in a relationship with a man. Even
when things are going well, her misery is consistently just below the surface. 

"Oh darling," Brett said, "Im so
miserable." 

[Jake] had that feeling of going through something that has
all happened before. "You were happy a minute ago."

It is clear that even in the one relationship which might give her love (though would
certainly not fulfill her completely), she is not content.

The loss of the
one man she loved is a hard blow for Brett and undoubtedly causes her to do things which do not
demonstrate self-respect. This is a personal experience which clearly shapes her future
behavior. Another contributing factor is the general malaise of not knowing quite how or where
she fits into the post-World War I world, something which was not specific just to her. The
combined effect is a dramatic display of self-loathing.