Gender Roles In The Painted Door

Examine the gender roles of Ann, John and Stephen in “The Painted Door”. I feel the most empathy with Ann. I feel most empathy for her because in a relationship each person is there to support the other. There is a true connection in which no one else can give you. I am empathetic toward Ann because she has given up everything to be with John. However John is no longer the man she married. Instead John is married to the land; his cattle and farm. Ann is stuck in her home with little to do. Even when Ann does attempt to help John with the farm, she is told that he can handle it. This is one example of gender roles in “The Painted Door”. During this era women were to stay in the home, and do chores. The men would be the ones outside bearing the …show more content…
Ann feels isolated and alone. She is stuck in a house with mirrors her crumbling and trapped life with John. However when Stephen comes into the picture, Ann gets a spark of excitement. She is excited by Stephen. He is everything John is not. I can relate to this idea of Ann wanted to engage with another person from my own experiences. After dating or even being married to someone for so long, the excitement fades. This can lead to promiscuity to get that excitement back. We as human being have a need to feel loved. We also have the need to engage in sex. For Ann, one gender role she played would be her betrayal of John with Stephen. At the time, and even in today’s Western societies, it is frowned upon for wives to have sexual relations with others. Ann defied this gender role, especially for her time. She was no longer the trusting, caring wife she once was. She has gone against John and the social norms by sleeping with Stephen. A mistake Ann soon realizes, as many people do, is that they do not realize what they have lost until it’s gone. In Ann’s case, she has lost her husband for a lousy one night stand with nothing more than a pretty