Women as being obedient at all times
One of the first images which appears in the play is that of women as being completely obedient and ready to do what they are told. Every woman in the play with the only exception of Silvia believe that it is a woman’s duty to listen to their father and after they get married, to their husbands. This thus creates an image of women who have no say in their lives.
Men as brutes
One of the most important images presented in the play is that of men as brutes. Silvia and Lisette talk at lengths about the men they knew and how the image they present in public is different from the way they treat their wives and children. In these situations, men behave like brutes, traumatizing their wives and abusing their children. Thus, in this context, men are portrayed both as brutes and as unstable people who can’t be trusted.
I could end up like her
Before agreeing to marry the man her father chose for her, Silvia thinks about the wife or a man she knows, a man named Henry. Silvia describes Henry as a pleasant man while in society but a completely different one in private, when he is together with his wife. Silvia recalls a time when she visited Henry’s wife and found her crying, on the floor, after she was abused by her husband. The image of the woman crying on the floor is important for Silvia because it shows her a possible future for her and how she could end up if she does not chose a good man to be her husband.
Love as a weapon
Because most of the marriages which took place during the time when the play was written were arranged marriages, people rarely talked about the possibility of loving the partner they had to spend the rest of their lives with. However, when Silvia took the role of the maid, she realized how making a man fall in love with her could bring her power. Love is portrayed in this play as a weapon which can be used freely by the women who are beautiful and smart enough to know its value. For men on the other hand, love can mean danger since it makes them more vulnerable and more susceptible to being controlled and manipulated.
