Chloe:
Richard was the characterized by both roles but there were
characters that had clear gender role definition. Chloe was the perfect example
of a woman trapped in what society characterizes as a woman. She came few years
before the present time in the novel and gave birth to a stillborn child. Her
life before Locke was being pampered by Alfred and submissively interacting
with him in a sexual manner. Women, especially in that period of time, were
foci of sexual desire. People saw them as only fulfilling the desires of men
and reproduction. Chloe both had a child, a sign of reproduction, and was a
prostitute, the oldest profession involving sexual desire of mainly men. When
she met Sofia, her traditional role was being altered. She began to feel for
Sofia and adopt her mentality of individuality and free spirit. Women at that
time could not break away from the role without affecting the other aspects of
her life such as family. She came from a life where she could not escape her
“womanly” roles and as the novel ends, she leaves as a single pregnant woman,
which is the price she had to pay for not staying within her role.
What else did you notice as a reader?
What else did you notice as a reader?
As a reader, I didn't think she was paying the price for not staying within her role. In fact, I feel she stayed so closely to her role that is why she became single and pregnant. She continued to meet all the criteria you described for a woman: she was sexual (prostitue) and reproduced. Both of those things needed to occur for her to be single and pregnant. The only thing that was missing from this equation was the desire for a stable male partner.
ReplyDeleteI think that the role of women in that time was not just to be the object of desire for men, but to only engage in any sexual acts with their husbands. Thus, Chloe was already breaking out of her traditional role when she arrived. One could argue that winding up pregnant and alone has already happened to her once: and in that way, she has already been punished for breaking free from that role. But, the setup of society at that time also made it impossible for her to go back to the traditional role, so she was in a Catch 22. She found her place in society, however unfortunate it may have been, and although her 'profession' was not favorable, it was also not uncommon, so it was a role she could live in and still function almost as a part of society. I agree that she broke free of her gender role when she developed feelings for Sophia, and was punished as such. She broke out of her traditional role, but because it was not something that is accepted by society, could not continue to live in that situation.
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