The Revolt Of Mother Analysis

In “ The Revolt of Mother” by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman you see a struggle of power between a husband and wife; the husband Adoniram is a stereotypical dominate male and then the wife that for this time period is unusually outspoken. The wife Sarah throughout this short story slowly turns over the rule of power in a subtle and gradual way, gaining more power as the story goes on. These actions lead to a amazing victory for Sara and is a great example of a movement toward equality.

In the beginning of this story we see strong, dominant males doing as they please with no regards to the feelings or cares for the female characters. This is shown well when a Sarah questions Adoniram about a hole he 's digging and he says “ ‘I wish you’d go into the house, mother,

When Sarah finds out the hole is for a cellar for a barn, in the spot she was promised her house would be she asks “ ‘A barn? You ain 't goin’ to build a barn over there where we was goin’ to have a house, father’ ” (Freeman 2)? Adoniram shuts down after this like he does not have to respond to the Sarah he ignored her then rode off on a horse. Adoniram felt like because she was a woman he did not have to explain his actions to her or any longer acknowledge her presence. Yet Adoniram had told his son Sammy all about his project long before Sarah knew anything about it. When Sammy was asked by his mother “ ‘How long have you known it?’ ” (Freeman 2) Sammy replied with “ ‘Bout three months, I guess’ ” (Freeman 3) So Adoniram feels that it is more important to tell a young boy about his plans and not his wife. This shows how sexist Adoniram is because he choses to tell a child his plan before he does an adult that should be seen as his equal but is not just because she is a