Analysis Of Hugh Wolfe's Life In The Iron Mills

“He had already lost the strength and instinct vigor of a man, his muscles were thin, his nerves weak, his face (a meek, woman’s face) haggard, yellow with consumption” (Davis 11). This is just one description of the main character, Hugh Wolfe in the story “Life in the Iron Mills” by Rebecca Harding Davis that alludes to his femininity which was a characteristic that made him unfit to perform the roles that were expected of men during the time period in which this story was written. Throughout the short story, Davis illustrates several social issues related to inequality, which left many contemporary readers shocked and critical. The intertwined gender roles and contentious portrait of the division of the working class and upper class are a

In the Mills, he was referred to as “Molly” for possessing feminine qualities, which was looked down upon, especially for a man working in the Industry that he did. As a modern reader, is important to understand the historical context in which this story was written. Charles Rosenberg discusses gender roles and expectations in his book, “Sexuality, Class and Role in 19th-Century America.” He states, “To be more specific: despite a superfluity of evangelical exhortation, the primary role model with which men had to come to terms was that which articulated the archaic male ethos – one in which physical vigor, and particularly aggressive sexual behavior was a central component”(Rosenberg 144). Men were expected to have certain characteristics and qualities that were specific to men only, and if they did not have these qualities, they were viewed as weak and incompetent. In the book “The History of Men: essays on the history of American and British masculinities” by Michael Kimmel, the idea of the superiority of men and the praise of masculinity in society is discussed. Kimmel quotes a newspaper editor, “ ‘There is no place in the world for nations who have become enervated by soft and easy life, or who have lost their fiber of vigorous hardiness and masculinity’. A newspaper editor from Kansas praised Roosevelt’s masculinity – his ‘hard muscled frame’ and his ‘crackling voice’- as a model for Americans (cited in Dubbert, 1980, p 313” (Kimmel 99). Hugh’s passion for art, weak demeanor, and his higher level of education than the other men working in the mill violated social norms for men and violations like these made many people living in the 19th century uneasy and were not generally accepted in society. For this reason, many contemporary readers were shocked by Hugh’s feminine characterization in “Life in the Iron