The role of women in novels

The following sample essay on : “The role of women in novels”.  According to the gender roles of society, women are mainly oppressed by men in society and in the home domain. The victimization of women destroys their whole life and impacts their self identity in the society

Moreover, there is one other victim, named Alice in A Study in Scarlet (Doyle, 53). The reasons for the victimization of Alice are kind of similar to the case of Lucy Ferrier, and she is also victimized by the same offender, Drebber (Doyle, 54).

Drebber is not only responsible for having forced sex with Alice, but he also sexually assaulted the other maids at the home (Doyle, 54). Unfortunately, the sense of fear restricts Alice from sharing her victimization with her father. But, the depressed condition of Alice at home states that her father is also responsible for the exploitation of his daughter. However, the other detectives, named Lestrade and Gregson, hired by Sherlock Holmes to investigate the murder mystery of Drebber, show no sign of paying attention to the depressed condition of Alice.

In the same way, the genre of the novel focuses on masculine cases rather than examining the victimhood of Lucy Ferier and Alice in the terms of justice.

The victimization of women by men in Doyles crime and detective fiction novel illustrates the concept of gender stereotypes, including the dependence of women on men as well as the stronger influence of patriarchal societies. No doubt, most of the women such as Lucy and Alice, are victimized due to mens lust of physical beauty and sex, but control and power in the hands of man also leads to the exploitation of females.

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Nevertheless, Women were subordinated not just under the material, economic structure of capitalism, but also under a powerful and pervasive patriarchal society (Simon, 26-27). The cultural construction of beliefs of Mormonism, and inequality in gender roles contributes to the victimization of Lucy and Alice. The Mormons encourage polygamy, but the women have no right to marry more than once, which totally supports the dominance of men over women. The independence and freedom of women is very necessary. However, in the case of Lucy and Alice their victimization is also due to their dependence on the males. In other words, the power of domination and the victimization of females in Victorian era is explained through the concept of Postcolonial Anxieties and Gender Anxieties (Simon, 29-30). Colonialism and exploitation is also a kind of violence in naturism, and it will only yield when confronted with greater violence(Simon, 42). Gender equality and stronger womens rights can diminish violence from womens lives. The ignorance of victimization of women in a Study in Scarlet shows the sense of stronger masculinity and weaker femininity.

The narrator in the The Yellow Wallpaper is also a victim, suffers from depression and mental illness. The narrators husband, John, is a doctor and also seems to be very caring towards his wife (the narrator) (Gilman, 30). However, the isolated lifestyle of the narrator states that John has little role in the victimization of his wife. John, as a doctor tries to give proper care to his wife, but his ways of caring and the living environment often leads to the isolation of the narrator. The caring attitude of john towards his wife is normal, but he does not understand that his wife needs motivation and counselling to recover from her illness. The psychological illness of the narrator increases, due to her abnormal and overthinking about the faint image of women behind The Yellow Wallpaper in the room (Gilman, 38). The confinement of the narrator in the room explains the conditions of women in the past. In other words, the Gilmans story of female gothic states the position of other victimized womens, who are under the control of men and are not allowed to enjoy their livers. In the same way, John controls the narrator and often prohibits her to do work, which she likes to do.. Due to the mental disturbance, the narrator compares herself to the woman on the wallpaper. The narrator, as a human being, wants freedom from the imprisonment in the room and the control of her husband.

The short story, The Yellow Wallpaper could be described as female gothic. It mainly focuses on femininity. The reasons for the victimization of the narrator and deterioration of her mental health is due to the impacts of gender roles, male dominance, and role of patriarchal society (Lanser, 418). The narrators condition states that she is totally under the control of her husband, and unable to express herself. As well, she has lost her identity due to her inferior position in the home and society. She is being victimized at her own home, even by her husband which is very awful and occurs due to the greater influence of patriarchal domain. John is responsible for the narrators isolation from the world and her own life. In addition, the narrators imprisonment in the room states that she is totally isolated from the outside world, and dominated under the control of John. The main reason is that John only does what he wants to does or what he likes to do. He never understands that his wife needs his time and counselling to recover, rather than an isolated and work free life. The miserable life of the narrator in The Yellow Wallpaper states that femininity is completely under the control of masculinity.

To conclude, the victimization of women destroys their whole life and impacts their self identity in the society, which is cleared from the examples above. According to the gender roles of society, women are mainly oppressed by men in society and in the home domain. In addition, the role of patriarchal societies and power and control in favour of masculinity encourages the victimization and violence against women. Doyles novel of detective fiction and Gilmans story of female gothic explain the similar concept of oppression and victimization of female due to the superior positions of males. In my opinion, women have their own freedom and rights to live freely, and men should learn to respect women and her views.