Eveline Gender Roles

Roles of the Sexes The submissive role of the female in a marriage or relationship is a common problem in many societies, including our own American society. This role has become so common that in fact it is now expected of the female. This male dominance goes as far back as the human race, to the beginning of relationships and marriage between the female and the male. Then, the physical prowess of the male led to his dominance in all situations and thus formed these roles. Even presently, with all our advances in equal rights and women’s’ advances in the work fields, this role of submission and passivity is still present among our society. Why do women accept this role? Why hasn’t it banished with the right to vote and her expansion into the

James Joyce’s story “Eveline” further illustrates on this fear for change. In this story, the woman is not dominated by a husband, but rather her father. Her mother passed away, and Eveline was left to assume the role of taking care of her siblings and the household. Her father, even though is not described in detail, is hinted as being abusive and tyrannical. “He was usually bad of a Saturday night” (Joyce, 428), meaning he drank heavily. He also controlled Eveline’s spending, and forced her to do the shopping and cleaning. Eveline obeyed without a word for fear that he would strike her. She says, “Even now, though she was over nineteen, she sometimes felt herself in danger of her father’s violence” (Joyce, 428). Eveline wanted to move onto a better life. She did not want to be treated as her mother had; she did not want to be forced to succumb her entire life as had her mother and many other women. When a sailor asked for her hand in marriage, Eveline jumped at the chance. She saw this as her way out, as a way to change her situation. She thinks, “in her new home, in a distant unknown country, it would be not like