‘literary Representations Of Women Repeat Familiar Cultural Stereotypes.’ How Do Plath, Du Maurier And Gaskell Represent Feminine Stereotypes In Their Texts?

Feminine stereotypes seek to generalise and limit women, removing from them choice and individual expression. Among the familiar cultural stereotypes which are considered by Plath, Gaskell and du Maurier are those of the woman as mother, as caring, as homemaker, as well as women as the weaker sex and as childlike and intellectually inferior. In marked contrast, there are also powerful stereotypes of bad women as mad, dangerous, and cruel. By exploring, challenging and accepting these stereotypes the authors give us insights into their opinions on such stereotypes. All three texts accept female stereotypes to an extent, but they also show women who liberate themselves by rejecting typical female roles. Therefore, it seems stereotypes are ultimately presented as flexible and changeable: none of the texts gender roles are fixed and characters are able to surpass stereotypical positions by either rejecting or manipulating stereotypes, possibly reflecting the authors desires to escape such gender stereotypes.
One of the most important ways in which writers undermine stereotypes is through reversal of gender norms. In Rebecca, the eponymous other woman is presented as strongly aware of her appropriation of typically masculine qualities, highlighting the character s refusal to comply with stereotypes. The descri ption of her tearing a flower to bits in her hands emphasises her rejection of typically feminine activities such as flower arranging, as well as the female sexual connotations of flower suggesting she has no intention of staying a faithful wife to Maxim. Rebecca is, therefore, reversing the stereotype that women must remain true to their husbands even if their fidelity is not reciprocated. Typical roles are entirely rejected in Maxim and Rebecca s marriage: Maxim takes on the generally female role of faithful partner who maintains the home ( I put Manderley first, before anything else ), while Rebecca is more stereotypically masculine through her promiscuity and insensitivity. The violence in tearing and pieces highlights her threatening actions while her cruelty, especially towards Ben, again subverts gender norms as women were generally seen as caring for the vulnerable, but Rebecca instead threatens Ben with the asylum . Rebecca s power over Ben presents her as a cold and masculine master, representing a gender reversal of the relationship between the insane and the keeper in Jane Eyre, the inspiration for Rebecca. In this novel, Mr Rochester imprisons his mad wife Bertha Mason, thereby reinforcing the typical gender stereotype of the insane woman with the competent husband. The role reversal in Rebecca possibly echoes the evolution in social views of women s roles that occurred, especially during the Suffragette movement, and allows du Maurier to present a woman who holds the angry voice of female dissent , therefore rejecting feminine stereotypes that limit women to certain characteristics and place them in inferior positions.[1]
A gender role reversal also occurs between Margaret and Thornton in Gaskell s North and South, thereby rejecting social stereotypes. Margaret offers to help Thornton keep his mill by giving him some of her money: the male is indebted to the female, reversing the gender stereotype that women are dependent on men for financial support. She uses business language in her negotiations, arguing she should have two and a half percent with interest in their business arrangement , reflecting Rebecca s bargain with Maxim but differing in that Margaret s marriage is loving whereas Rebecca and Maxim s is a farce from the very first . Business jargon was very uncommon among women at the time who were not meant to concern themselves with finance indeed, at the beginning of the novel, Henry Lennox belittles the women by arguing that their chatting about clothes is ladies business very different to my business, which is the real true law business . Margaret s voice has even cleared itself and become more steady , suggesting she is comfortable talking about finance. However, given the fact that the Married Women s Property Act[2] was passed twenty-seven years after the novel s publication, Margaret s fortune would have been made the property of Thornton anyway. Arguably, this reduces Gaskell s claim to rejecting stereotypes because her character is constrained by society and is unable to keep her own wealth. The fact, however, that Gaskell can present a character who is familiar with business terms would imply she has some expressive freedom and she does not have to remain within literary stereotypes. One could argue that Gaskell is using her novel as a mouthpiece for female independence, especially in the character of Mrs Thornton, who epitomises a woman comfortable in a male-dominated workplace. Furthermore, that Margaret is allowed to hold her own money, rather than her wealth coming from a marriage gift which would have been inevitable anyway, gives her a degree of independent agency which again subverts female stereotypes. However, although Stoneman argues that through the marriage Margaret is energised by contact with the enterprise and self-reliance of Thornton s northern pattern of masculinity , the fact that Margaret has to assume masculine qualities at all in order to transcend stereotypes is problematic.[3] Possibly, that role reversals bring greater female freedom suggests women have no way of rejecting stereotypes themselves instead, they must emulate men, like Rebecca, and therefore female independence is compromised, as a male influence is needed in order to overcome stereotypes.
Plath s poem Spinster contradicts social constraints that limit women to certain roles by presenting a woman who also assumes masculine qualities, thereby overcoming gender stereotypes. The persona is walking with her latest suitor , implying that men are replaceable and unexceptional, whereas the descri ption of the girl as particular suggests she has value which makes her prominent. The persona even describes them as mere insurgent men, implying she creates barriers from love and relationships. Possibly, Plath is imagining an ideal scenario where women are only limited by boundaries they choose, like Rebecca in du Maurier s novel, rather than having their barriers determined for them. Mere also reduces the strength of men while empowering the persona, placing her in an almost transcendent position where she is able to make her own choices and does not have to conform to stereotypes. However, the title is an inherently derogatory word, with connotations of age, ugliness and burden which stem from the Victorian period indeed, Margaret worries about spinsterhood when she says the hopes of womanhood have closed for me- for I shall never marry . The title of the poem suggests the persona is characterised by her lack of a male partner, and this implies that women in general are defined by their marital status and therefore they are not able to be released from the stereotype of marriage. However, Plath may be manipulating the name to empower rather than demean, especially as the persona is presented as a very powerful person, and therefore the persona has rejected feminine stereotypes because she has decided to embrace spinsterhood rather than be ashamed of it.
All three texts present stereotypes as being enforced by men, suggesting women do not choose to create feminine stereotypes but instead have stereotypes imposed upon them. When Maxim proposes to the narrator in Rebecca, he refers to her as you little fool , implying he perceives an almost childlike innocence which makes her diminutive, both physically and intellectually, something which she appears to accept with, do you mean you want a secretary or something? The or something adds to her childish image by implying her world experience is so limited that she cannot conceive of other roles for women, while the stereotypically female role of secretary highlights her acceptance of appropriate 1930s female roles. Indeed, Maxim seems to impose stereotypes on the narrator even before she accepts his proposal, as he says, come home to Manderley with me . The imperative of come implies that he is commanding her, removing her choice, while the descri ption of Manderley as home suggests it will naturally be her home because she will be his wife. The narrator assumes her own inferiority, while Maxim appears to impose stereotypes of marriage and domesticity on her, suggesting that women are forced to accept stereotypes which are perpetrated by men.
Unlike the narrator in Rebecca, the persona in Plath s Daddy criticises the constraints that men impose on women. The persona compares her father to a black shoe, in which I have lived like a foot . The father as a black shoe implies he constricts her from growing, evoking images of the archaic practice of Chinese foot-binding which presents her father as firmly in the past, possibly hinting at men s out-dated views on women. References to shoe and foot connote inferiority, as if the father literally stands on the persona and forces the stereotype of male superiority upon her, while shoe , an image of protection, seems to suggest men who limit women to the internal, domestic sphere. Possibly, the image of the shoe is well-intentioned, where the father-figure wishes to protect his daughter, but the persona sees it as patronising, suggesting she is using her father as a representation of all men and is therefore extolling men to free women from stereotypes. The persona s final rejection of male-imposed limitations in Daddy, daddy, you bastard, I m through creates a climax where the persona releases herself from the dominant male indeed, the Daddy could represent all male dominant figures who oppress women by imposing stereotypes on them. The adjective through suggests the persona has literally burst through the shoe, and has therefore triumphantly broken out of the constraints imposed by her father. Paglia argues the end, from the diminutives and contraction to the cursing and slang, conveys the collapse of poetic discourse and tradition , echoing the collapse of tradition that the persona hopes for in her rejection of male-imposed feminine stereotypes.[4]
Frederick in North and South is another example of a male who enforces feminine stereotypes. He details Margaret s appearance as soon as he arrives, exclaiming I never saw such a little, awkward, good-for-nothing pair of hands . The reference to saw suggests appearance is her most important quality, yet he reproaches Margaret for having good-for-nothing hands, suggesting that women are often expected to fill both practical and aesthetic roles which seem contradictory. The patronising tone of the adjective little and the suggested ugliness of her awkward hands present Margaret as useless, ironically contrasting against the way she unifies her family during difficult times and is even the one who gets Frederick home. The subsequent imperatives, in run , wash and leave , convey his dominance over Margaret, yet this patronisation may be well-intentioned. Unlike the persona in Daddy , Margaret seems to welcome this tone from her brother, with Gaskell writing, the more wants Frederick had, the better she was pleased . By presenting Margaret as willingly fulfilling Frederick s demands, Gaskell is able to portray a character who seems to accept general stereotypes of male superiority while also allowing Margaret to be the hero who ensures Frederick s safety, giving her a degree of power over him and therefore subverting feminine stereotypes.
All three writers also present women who either accept or reject the stereotype of motherhood. In Plath s Medusa , the persona describes the suffocating and inescapable feelings towards her daughter, whom she calls an eely tentacle , implying the child is like a jellyfish sucking out her life-blood. The unsettling phonology of eely adds to the sense of disgust, as well as the continual use of sibilance evoking a sense of breathing which adds an eerie animation to the Medusa-child. A feeling of detachment is created by comparing a sea creature and monster with a child, suggesting that the persona had not wanted children and now has to struggle with an unwanted burden. The blunt statement there is nothing between us implies there is no connection between mother and child, suggesting the mother almost resents her child, especially as it is paralysing the kicking lovers like the mythical Medusa. Freedman argues the Medusa may be the image of maternal self-annihilation [5] as her child grows, it squeezes the breath from the blood bells and halts the mother s self-development. Indeed, the opinions voiced in The Bell Jar ( I began to think maybe it was true that when you were married and had children it was like being brainwashed, and afterward you went about as numb as a slave in a totalitarian state ) seem to support this interpretation, suggesting Plath was deeply concerned with balancing motherhood and her own personality. By conflating a monster with a child in Medusa , Plath is possibly renouncing her own position as a mother and the stereotype of women as naturally caring, replacing it with a sense of resentment at losing oneself for the sake of children, challenging generalisations about female personality and behaviour.
Unlike the persona in Medusa , whom we can assume to be middle-class given Plath s own upbringing, Gaskell presents the difficulties faced by working-class mothers, thereby dispelling literary stereotypes of women whose only job is childcare. When she hears of her husband s death, Mrs Boucher moans he has left me alone wi a these children! . The connotations of left suggest that her husband has chosen to burden his wife and the emphasis of a highlights her exasperation, possibly showing her resentment at being unable to support her family without a husband. The character s struggle to cope with the demands of motherhood are already referenced: the room looked as if the house had been untouched for days by any effort at cleanliness , suggesting Mrs Boucher cannot cope with all the expectations placed on her. By presenting a female character struggling with a her children, Gaskell may be denouncing the female stereotype of motherhood, using Mrs Boucher as a metaphor to represent all working class women who were forced to take on both domestic and wage-earning roles, as well as to portray the actual physical burdens of motherhood compared to fatherhood. It is clear in Mrs Boucher s story that her priority must be working, and in presenting such a character Gaskell is possibly criticising the Victorian stereotype that the mother is a woman s most important position, thereby freeing women to assume different positions outside the norm.
Ironically, the narrator in Rebecca has no children, yet she is the most comfortable with taking on a motherly role, suggesting she accepts the maternal stereotype. Her life with Maxim is described as being dull and indifferent , where she spends her time trying to distract Maxim with reports of schoolboy sports , presenting him like a child, or even an invalid with his grey and lifeless face. However, the narrator insists she would not have it otherwise , implying that she is happy to take on a maternal role because it was her choice, like Jane s choice to return to Mr Rochester, rather than the position being forced upon her as in the case of Mrs Boucher. Indeed, she even says, I wanted to be his wife, his mother. I wanted to be old , suggesting her desire to care for Maxim was present at Manderley, but it also creates a sombre link back to the opening, where the aftermath for the de Winters will be exile, ennui, and putting a brave face on a living death .[6] The narrator seems to accept her maternal role, thereby perpetrating the stereotype of women as natural carers even though she doesn t actually have any children, but the novel also suggests the narrator is allowed to perpetrate the maternal stereotype because she chose to do so. Possibly, du Maurier is suggesting that choice is the most important female goal, whether they choose to conform or not, because it gives women the opportunity to control their lives rather than their lives being dictated by others.
Place and setting are used in the texts to highlight the limitations that stereotypes create. Gaskell makes use of cratylic names in North and South the town of Crampton connotes limits and claustrophobia, while Milton, a pun on mill town , suggests it is a male-dominated town of the industrial revolution. Patrick even argues that John Milton may have influenced the name, and if Gaskell shared [the] sense of John Milton as a domineering, alienating and silencing pillar of patriarchy, her decision to name her fictional city after him might lead us to see the city Milton as patriarchy itself . [7] Therefore Margaret, in her encounter with Milton, becomes a representation of women, forced to find a way to live within or even reform an oppressive culture . [8] In a scene made even more dramatic in Welch s television adaptation[9], Margaret walks down streets on which poured streams of men and women , the association of danger with water foreshadowing Margaret s confrontation with the sea of men , as well as echoing the terrible fish in the lake in Plath s Mirror . Poured suggests a continuous movement of men, arguably representative of the patriarchal society which women cannot oppose. The male workers are pushing Margaret as well as teasing her potentially, Gaskell is representing men as stopping women from reaching their goal of greater independence as well as removing their voice, while the absence of turnings off the street reinforces the idea that men push women towards positions against their will. However, there are also female workers in the street, suggesting women too perpetrate feminine stereotypes, especially that of the danger of the outside. Margaret even refers to the quiet safety of home , suggesting she conforms to the gender norm of women feeling safe inside while fearing the outside. Gaskell s own resentments about life in Manchester, where her domestic image as wife and mother overshadowed her writing, are possibly represented in Milton, which is presented as limiting women to certain roles and therefore does not enable women to express themselves freely. [10]
Plath s Miss Drake Proceeds to Supper uses place to reinforce stereotypes of domesticity. The poem references the still, sultry weather of the patients dining room , with the adjectives still and sultry connoting an oppressive and humid atmosphere that is emphasised by the use of sibilance. Weather is literally brought inside, suggesting the dining room is the only world Miss Drake knows, or she is even fearful of the outside indeed, the danger of nature entering the inside is referenced in Plath s Tulips , as the persona says the vivid tulips eat my oxygen . References to knotted table and crooked chair evoke an image of a tree, again bringing the dangerous outside into the safety of the inside because the furniture is deformed by nature. Furthermore, the possessive apostrophe in patients dining room implies that it is their particular place just as Miss Drake is confined to the room, women are supposed to stay within certain socially-dictated roles. The fact that it is a dining room , emblematic of domesticity, reinforces this stereotype, thereby presenting the setting as perpetrating stereotypes for women. However, another reading of knotted and crooked would suggest Miss Drake is being physically deformed by the room s limits, echoing the image of a black shoe in Daddy , and therefore Plath is condemning the cultural idealisation of domestic femininity as fundamentally oppressive by its insistence on constraining women to fit certain stereotypes.[11]
Du Maurier also uses setting to accentuate Rebecca s death and the stereotypes which constrained her. When Rebecca is killed, there [is] no moon . This is perhaps symbolic of the death of a female character, given the association of the lunar cycle with menstruation, but the emphatic no moon could also point darkly to Rebecca s malformation of the uterus which meant she could never have children. The absence of light possibly references Maxim s immorality, as it suggests he has corrupted nature by killing Rebecca. However, Rebecca s consistent association with darkness and nature would suggest she is home in the sea, which is problematic as it implies Maxim is right to kill Rebecca, because he releases her from the domestic sphere. Indeed, Rebecca s desire to escape is even represented in Manderley s layout as Light argues, the West wing, Rebecca s, is dominated by the sight and sound of the sea, restless and disturbing , qualities which reflect Rebecca and her wild nature.[12] Manderley s destruction at the end of the novel entirely removes Rebecca s association with the home, but that she has to die at all in order to overcome stereotypes implies women who try to reject stereotypes cannot succeed in a patriarchal society. Therefore, du Maurier may be criticising the society in which she lived for not allowing women to explore their own personalities, but rather limiting them to certain roles.
Whether they are imposed by men or perpetrated by women, feminine stereotypes in literature can both limit and liberate depending on how writers present them. Du Maurier, Plath and Gaskell reinforce their representations of stereotypes through language, characterisation and setting, and their manipulation of stereotypes and characters who are affected by them allows the reader to gain insight into the authors opinions on stereotypes as well as into the nature of society at the time of their writing. Ultimately, they do not simply repeat stereotypes, but instead present them as unfixed and challengeable, because their works portray both the acceptance and rejection of typical feminine stereotypes.

[1] Sally Beauman, Rebecca: Afterword (2003)

[2] Married Women s Property Act, 1882 this act gave wives more rights over their wealth and possessions. These rights were: the right to own property, the right to keep one s earnings and the right to keep any inherited wealth or property.

[3] Dr. Patsy Stoneman, North and South: Introduction (added 2002)

[4] Camille Paglia, Break, Blow, Burn (Vintage Books, 2006)

[5] William Freedman, Papers on Language and Literature: The Monster in Plath s Mirror (1993)

[6] Sally Beauman, Rebecca: Afterword (2003)

[7] Jonny Patrick, Milton is not the place for cowards The City in North and South (The English Review, February 2016)

[8] Ibid.

[9] North and South, Dir.: Brian Percival, Screenplay: Sandy Welch (BBC, 2005)

[10] Dr. Patsy Stoneman, North and South: Introduction (added 2002)

[11] Julie Tovey, Viciousness in the Kitchen: Domesticity in Sylvia Plath s Poems (The English Review, April 2002)