Essay Questions

How does the text explore gender?

Gender is one of the key elements in the book; not just for the characters but also for the author, who had initially published the work under the pseudonym of A.M. Barnard. This decision was prompted by the era’s prejudice against all literary works produced by female authors. Thus, gender was a crucial issue for both Alcott and her central character, who had similarly found herself involved in a battle against a hundred hindrances caused by societal bias concerning gender roles.

For such reasons, Jean Muir is portrayed as a strong, smart, and manipulative woman. She uses the very impediments with which she is met to fulfill her designs and schemes. As the story goes on, she makes use of the societal expectations and conventions regarding gender roles to entrap and enslave all the men of the Coventry family. Jean is cognizant of the fact that beauty, youth, docility, and frailty are much desired traits in the ideal woman. Thus, she understands the psychological built of her employers with a piercing clarity that gives her full control and superiority over them.

Her disguise as a poor, frail, and delicate governess is therefore a proof of her far-sightedness and mental superiority in an era during which women were considered inferior to men in most respects. This is the author’s way of facing her society with the truth that gender roles and bias in the favor of patriarchy are nothing but absurd notions polluting minds, holding back potentiality, and even enforcing vice and deception.

Jean is at once the heroine and the villain of the tale. Thus, even if hers is not a particularly likable character, it is nonetheless admirable. What Jeans teach us about gender is that she dared to be ambitious at a time when ambition in women was abhorred. Neither her humble origins nor her ties to the lower classes came in the way of achieving her goals. In short, she was a woman who defied gender roles and won the battle too.

How does Alcott depict Jean Muir's character?

When Jean removes her disguise and unveils her true self for the first time, her character might seem unlikable at first glance due to the deceitful and manipulative nature of her acts and designs. With neither remorse felt nor guilt experienced, she exerts herself in a dangerous game of manipulation, wrecking havoc with many a life on her way towards social and economical status.

Yet a thorough analysis of her behavior, conduct, ideas, and beliefs reveals the real evil behind so much deception. Jean is an underprivileged member of society. Her gender, birth, and profession destined her, against her will, to a life unsuited for such an ambitious woman. Unable to bear with so much oppression from society, Jean found herself under the obligation of channeling her intelligence, talents, art, and sharpness to serve deceitful designs.

In such a manner, Alcott portrays Jean Muir as a victim of the injustice of her society; yet, one who does not want to be victimized, a woman who is strong and smart enough to stand for herself and defy prejudice, injustice, and inequality.

What does the text tell us about society and women’s conditions?

Alcott’s novella can be regarded as a study of the late 19th century society with all its problems and issues. Class struggle, for instance, occupies a prominent part of the text. Belonging to the working class, Jean Muir is treated like an inferior specimen of women. An alliance with her through wedlock is not only unheard of, when Edward makes her an offer, but is also scandalous and disgraceful to the family. Thus, the book gives a truthful account of the late Victorian traditions and norms which were at the bottom of the greatest injustice done to the lower classes.

Another key issue is women’s conditions at the time. The book provides a few instances to illustrate the very limited possibilities available to women back then. One such example is Lucia Beaufort who occupies the position of “the angel in the house”. Lucia is beautiful, refined, and idle. Her sole occupation is to entertain the man to whom she is engaged. In the eyes of society, she is an ideal woman. In those of the author’s, she is a conventional one who does not live to her potential. Another example is that of Jean Muir who represents “the New Woman”. Jean is a governess; therefore, an independent woman who does not rely on her male counterparts. Her career in the Coventry household offers a larger insight into the conditions of working women at the time. Although her services as a governess were sought after, she was never regarded as an equal by the family members. She was to obey them in all respects and to exert herself in so many different ways to meet their wishes and needs. In short, the conditions of working women back then, as can be gathered from the book, were tough and oppressing.