Separate Spheres In The Doll Master By Kate Ferguson Ellis

Following the Age of Enlightenment, the concept of Separate Spheres emerged as a distinct ideology that imposed gender roles which dictated that the men’s place was in the public sphere while the women’s place was in the private sphere. It claimed that the division was natural, rooted in the biological difference between men and women. The men’s role was to live grandiose dreams while the women’s role was to be a model of self-control with utmost obedience and spirituality. Kate Ferguson Ellis argues that the concept of Separate Spheres constructed toxic family systems that disabled both men and women as well as their children. Ellis claims that Separate Spheres facilitated the enforcement of harmful gender roles because it held men to an unattainable …show more content…
At the time, Robbie was only eleven months older than three year old Amy. Even though Amy was younger and smaller than Robbie, she had a sense of intelligence and charisma that surpassed that of Robbie. Her ability to articulate herself well and her charisma made adults swoon and coo at her. Consequently, Robbie was jealous of her because the adults did not adore him as much. Suddenly, Amy tragically passed away from childhood leukemia. Robbie grieved for her by stealing Baby Emily. He began to sleep, snuggling up to Baby Emily, which made him feel better and subsequently became attached to her. When Robbie began pre-school at the age of five, his father threw out Baby Emily, asserting that boys ought not to play with dolls and blamed Robbie’s mother for indulging him for so long. Robbie resented his father for this and vowed to never forgive him. He had become obsessed with Baby Emily for the “scary ticklish sensation” she invoked in him and the comfort she gave him in Amy’s absence (Oates 1). Although he was sullen when Amy passed away, he had appeared to be apathetic because there was no safe space for a young boy to show emotion. Instead, he grieved for his cousin by stealing her doll and crying for her in private; however, he had cried because she was gone, not because she had passed away. Robbie having to hide his tendency to be loving and caring, is a result of the gender …show more content…
Coincidentally, young girls began to disappear from the neighborhood park around the same time. Robbie’s friend, an undisclosed tall man, encouraged him to take the “found dolls,” emphasizing that they deserved them and no one could take them away from them. This man seems to take the role of Robbie’s father if he had been supportive and understanding of the things that Robbie wants to do. Robbie projects the nurturing and caring he does not receive from his father onto the dolls. He laid the dolls in little wooden basinets and frequently checked in on them to admire and play with them. He had different levels of adorations for the dolls based on how they compared to Baby Emily. This collecting of “found dolls” continued into Robbie’s life after high school, exacerbated by his father’s leaving. Robbie’s father felt guilty for his inability to achieve an extraordinary life, leading him to resent Prospect Hill and all that it represented. Robbie states that his father might have loved him more if he had succeeded at achieving an extraordinary life and being more successful (Oates 10). Robbie fathers wants his son to adhere to the expectations of his gender role, so he might achieve what he could not. He therefore rejects his son’s choice to be more gender fluid as demonstrated by attachment he has to Baby