have!” (177). While Arthur is fully responsible for his actions, his parents’ influence on his mentality is undeniable. Whether or not his parents explicitly taught him that his behavior was acceptable, their actions taught him that they were nonetheless. And Helen, recognizing that it is the responsibility of the current generation to undo the damage done by the previous, seeks to correct these errors, but does so under the assumption that it is the sole responsibility of the women to do so.
In terms of Mrs. Markham’s two considerations, Helen finds herself prioritizing what is “proper” and “had a will of her own” (221) coming into the marriage, but for other women in different marriages, like Helen’s friend Millicent, may come to prioritize …show more content…
It still has considerable relevance to the social climate regarding gender roles of the present day. The social structures and conventions depicted in this novel created a pervasive system that was deeply unfair to both men and women, but those abuses manifested themselves in different degrees and in widely different ways. While men had to live up to certain conventions regarding masculinity, women had so many contradicting responsibilities and expectations forced upon them that they were impossible to balance. The responsibilities which took priority, however, were the ones which benefited the men the most. In this environment, the most that women could do was to raise their sons to be better than their fathers, but because of the power that they held in society, men were able and willing to perpetuate these roles and conventions since they were so beneficial to them. Women learned from their mothers to be subservient to their husbands, fathers, brothers, and sons and men learned from their mothers and fathers that their wives, mothers, sisters, and daughters must be subservient to them. It is only through the breaking of these gender roles and conventions - from both men being willing to defer to the wills of women and women having the strength of deviate from their given roles and demanding better treatment, that these toxic definitions of masculinity and femininity can be
In terms of Mrs. Markham’s two considerations, Helen finds herself prioritizing what is “proper” and “had a will of her own” (221) coming into the marriage, but for other women in different marriages, like Helen’s friend Millicent, may come to prioritize …show more content…
It still has considerable relevance to the social climate regarding gender roles of the present day. The social structures and conventions depicted in this novel created a pervasive system that was deeply unfair to both men and women, but those abuses manifested themselves in different degrees and in widely different ways. While men had to live up to certain conventions regarding masculinity, women had so many contradicting responsibilities and expectations forced upon them that they were impossible to balance. The responsibilities which took priority, however, were the ones which benefited the men the most. In this environment, the most that women could do was to raise their sons to be better than their fathers, but because of the power that they held in society, men were able and willing to perpetuate these roles and conventions since they were so beneficial to them. Women learned from their mothers to be subservient to their husbands, fathers, brothers, and sons and men learned from their mothers and fathers that their wives, mothers, sisters, and daughters must be subservient to them. It is only through the breaking of these gender roles and conventions - from both men being willing to defer to the wills of women and women having the strength of deviate from their given roles and demanding better treatment, that these toxic definitions of masculinity and femininity can be