Society is believed to be built upon binaries with masculinity at its centre and marginalised groups, especially that of femininity, at the periphery as its pillars. This explains why it is rather difficult to extract patriarchy from within the realm of literature. According to Deaux and Kite, gender stereotypes are beliefs about typical personal attributes of males and females that are often communicated by cultural influences such as mass media, religion, art and literature. Over the years, literature has presented us with phrases and images of both sexes that have been rapidly adopted within common parlance, examples being “the knight in shining armour” or the “damsel in distress”. Thus, the gendered nature of literature applies to both the masculine as well as feminine sections of society.
Literature for a long time was viewed as a man’s domain, and female writers, unless from extremely well-connected privileged backgrounds, have always been denied access to this space. Yet, some defiant women writers have boldly published some of their works that were received quite well by society, by using pseudonyms. Prominent among such writers were the Bronte sisters who published under the pseudonyms of Currer , Ellis and Acton Bell while Mary Ann Evans published Mill on the Floss under the pen name, George Eliot.
Several instances of gender stereotypes have been noted in popular texts such as Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, famous for its oft quoted opening, “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife”. This single line encapsulates the patriarchal image of society during the 19th century and hints at the irony that Austen later employs throughout the novel to critique social norms and ideals. Austen deliberately caricaturises many of her characters to satirize the 19th century notion of marriage. Young women were expected to be comfortably settled in life through the prospect of being “well married” which required them to be skilled in managing a household, being adept in music and needlework. Being opinionated or well read, as the protagonist Elizabeth Bennet is, were not viewed as virtues making her eligible for marriage.
G.B. Shaw’s Pygmalion can be used to show how the society grants respect and appreciation to a woman only when she adheres to the prescribed notions of femininity. The movie depicts Eliza Doolittle, a flower girl who is unruly and misbehaved. She does not know how to speak or behave like a lady. Professor Higgins, a representative of patriarchy, takes on a bet to transform Eliza into a ‘true Englishwoman’ so that she may pass in society as a figure of flawless femininity. Eventually he succeeds and the once ridiculed flower girl now becomes a woman who is greatly appreciated and desired. This shows how the woman is manipulated by the male and also provides a critique of a hypocritical society which is shallow and rigid.
Femininity meant being a fragile figure that lacked muscular strength, “a body in whose very contours the images of immaturity had been subscribed.” Something that conformed to the image of the “damsel in distress” or “the angel in the house”. We are well aware of the stories of Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Rapunzel, etc. which are told from a very young age. There is always a beautiful princess who needs the rescuing of a handsome prince. The protagonists become embodiments of femininity and masculinity respectively. Other stereotypes, such as blue is for boys and pink is for girls or boys should play with cars and girls with dolls are also taught from childhood. Therefore from the very beginning the mind of the individual is constrained within the chains of social constructs and there is little or no scope at all for development on their own.
The classical texts feature women, who are beautiful and attractive, which is a signifier of the perception of the age. They are portrayed as objects that men desire and wish to possess. Helen in Homer’s The Iliad is one such example. She is considered to be the epitome of beauty and femininity. She is desired by all the men of her age. But this same Helen is also blamed for the Trojan War which lay waste to an entire city. Christopher Marlowe in Doctor Faustus describes her as the “face that launched a thousand ships.” Therefore the beauty of a woman is both desired and condemned at the same time. The other classical texts like The Mahabharata, The Ramayana and Abhijnanasakuntalam have all depicted the image of the woman as docile and comely. There are descriptions of their long flowing hair, eyes similar to a deer, luscious lips and slender waists. They become the ideal representatives of womanhood and femininity which all other women try to embody.
Even when we look at the ages ahead we notice that the same idea of femininity is consistent even though time has changed. We can see an instance of this is in The Mill on The Floss by George Eliot. On one occasion, the protagonist Maggie Tulliver, tired of all the criticism that she hears about her hair, cuts them off. Her brother mocks her for the way she looks and she regrets her decision. Her mother on seeing her shouts out in horror. This entire scene shows us how the physical appearance of a girl was considered to be of utmost importance.
Also in Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, the protagonist Katherine, who is considered a shrew, due to her ill-tempered nature may be used as an example. She is reputed throughout Padua to be foul tempered and sharp tongued. One of the many reasons that she is this way is because of her feelings about her undesirability, the fear that she may never win a husband because she is intelligent and independent. Katherine is an exceptional woman but a threat to patriarchy, therefore at the end of the play she is ‘tamed’, rather, domesticated by her husband Petruchio. She eventually becomes the epitome of femininity as is evident in her last speech.
Similarly men too have been portrayed in ways that pander to rigid patriarchal conventions and have come to associate masculinity with notions of power, strength, rationality, chivalry, dominance and leadership as opposed to representation of women as the “fairer and weaker sex” that is more emotionally charged, irrational, helpless, nurturing and docile in nature.
Therefore, literature is laden with stereotypical examples of both men and women that create a very specific socially accepted image of both genders. With the passage of time we can see a change in the manner and representation of genders in literature. But even so there still permeates a mind-set that continues to impact the prejudiced nature of society.