Eveline Essay Feminist Perspective

598 Words2 Pages

James Joyce's short story, "Eveline" portrays a young woman who lives in the early twentieth century Ireland. The conflict in the story is that the protagonist Eveline contemplates whether it is right to run away with her lover thus abandoning her family back home. Joyce uses her situation to demonstrate how gender roles in Ireland at the time, and in a larger picture the entire world, are unbalanced because women are seen inferior in comparison to men.
Readers viewing "Eveline" from a feminist perspective allows them to evaluate the relationships between men and women in the Irish society. An example of the gender roles seen in "Eveline" is the relationship between Eveline and her father. Eveline works day and night by cooking, cleaning, taking care of the home and of her siblings while also managing to work outside in order to bring extra money home. Eveline would "always give her entire wages...but the trouble was to get any money from her father." Although Eveline works hard for her money while balancing a busy schedule, she is not allowed to keep the money for herself. She mus...

More about Eveline Essay Feminist Perspective

Open Document