Gender Roles and Class in Richardson's 'The Getting of Wisdom'

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Richardson’s exploration of the effect of clothing on Laura’s education in Chapter 10 of The Getting of Wisdom, first published in 1910, reveals the intersection between class and gender roles within Australian society. This passage highlights Richardson’s theme of the destruction of innocence, as social expectations begin to motivate Laura’s actions within the text. The changing characterisation of Laura throughout the text emphasises the role of the boarding school in the imposition of gender roles. Notably, Laura wishes she could have clad herself in “sacks” before her experiences at the school (Richardson 169). This signifies how the school, and her fellow students, influence Laura’s development. At first, Laura is “unrestrained by gender, …show more content…

Richardson utilises “narratorial distance” to treat Laura, the “subject” of the novel, with irony (Treagus 204). Additionally, the use of third-person narration serves to prevent sympathetic reaction to Laura. The passage supports this, as Laura’s fears of social exclusion are only referred to as “troubles” (Richardson 169). While Richardson trivialises Laura’s reactions to her social ostracisation, the destruction of her innocence is the lasting result of these experiences. Laura’s fear of embarrassment contrasts with her initial inability to comprehend the “elusive code of restraint” that governs the actions of her peers (O’Loughlin 88). These social pressures become key motivations for Laura’s later actions. This includes her refusal to wear the purple dress, due to “the views held by her companions” (Richardson 171). However, Laura’s later actions, which mirror those of her tormentors, reveal the transformation of her character. Accordingly, Laura felt no “sympathy” for a girl that underwent the “same experience” of social ostracisation (Richardson 167). This highlights the negative direction of Laura’s development. Richardson’s rejection of common literary devices of the period supports the importance of this theme in the text. Richardson challenges the bildungsroman genre, (Pratt 7) as she “mocks earlier moral tales” set in schools (Treagus 201). Through the subversion of traditional narrative direction, Richardson undermines the same social pressures that influence Laura’s development. The destruction of innocence within The Getting of Wisdom reveals how Richardson attempts to criticise the imposition of gender roles through her narrative

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