Systemic Patriarchal Oppression
The novel covers the lives of three woman in three different historical periods. What truly unites all their stories is that they are victims of patriarchal oppression of women. The manifestation of patriarchal rule may be different in each case, but they are all examples of systemic failure of society to treat women as equal partners among men. The farther back into history the story goes, the more prevalent and unquestioned the oppression that is being suffered. The book asks questions about true progress in the dismantling of the inherent belief and acceptance of male dominance even as the march of history has allowed for greater freedoms and the right to question such gendered value systems.
Divide and Conquer
The three women at the heart of the novel are examples of how men assume and maintain power over women through enforced isolation. The strategy employed by men regardless of historical period is to increase power through division. By keeping women who are seen as somehow threatening the patriarchal power base separated from each other, men can more easily keep those who tow the line in check. Ideas are presented as power and the key to defending against ideas is to make sure they cannot spread. The very opening lines of the novel instigate this theme with its portrait of a woman held in confinement for ten days without food or company. Keeping dangerous ideas from spreading also requires ensuring that women must depend upon men for something as basic to mere survival as food.
Choice
While all the themes explored in the novel relate to present-day concerns, the theme which is most viscerally connected to the time in which the book was written is the power that comes with having choices. Written at a time when many countries were pushing back against progressive views toward abortion and rolling back reproductive rights with sometimes draconian measures, the issue of simply having the right to make a choice is of tremendous significance. Each of the three protagonists are faced with important choices to make but the most tangibly connected to the real world of today revolves around the story of Tansy. Tansy’s choice is explicitly related to the right to abortion, but the issue of the power that comes from the right to make even bad choices is thematically relevant throughout the entire narrative.
