The Mystery of Edwin Drood by

Rather than surrendering to the trickery of Sherlock Holmes, Irene Adler outsmarts him using his own tricks and makes her escape right under his nose. The narrowly defined roles of women were evident for the only means to discuss women in this story is through their relations with men. No woman, not even Irene Adler, has her own story. After all in the end, even Irene Adler runs away with a man. Out of the five female characters mentioned or referred to in this story, only one is given a name and a personality. This lack of female representation shows how dominant males were in the society of the story and in the society of the real world.

Lily starts off stuck living in an unloving, abusive household and decides to free herself from the negative atmosphere that she had been living in her whole life. Lily is perpetually abused by her father. He forces her to kneel on Martha White's, gets exasperated every time she speaks, and yells at her for no reason. Lily is not the only one noticing the terrible treatment, Rosaleen does too. Once after Lily had to kneel on the Martha White's Rosaleen said to her, “Look at you, child. Look what he’s done to you” (Kidd 25). Noticing the unloving treatment Lily gets, Rosaleen knew that their household was demoralizing place for Lily to be in, which is why she didn’t question when Lily when she later runs away. Lily one day realizes she needs to do something about her horrible life at home. While sitting in her room she hears a voice in her

In addition to the Black Mary, Rosaleen showers Lily with love and support. Rosaleen treats Lily like she is her own daughter. Rosaleen accepts the way Lily is and has faith in her. "'Here you go. Happy Birthday" (28). Rosaleen cares about Lily and knows when something is important to her, like her Birthday. Lily never gets anything from T-Ray on her Birthday, but Rosaleen cares so much about her that she still gets Lily something. Rosaleen can tell when Lily is in pain or is sad like most mothers can. "'Well why don't we sit down on the side of the road awhile?'" (28). Rosaleen acknowledges the fact that Lily feels upset, and is comfortable expressing the need to rest and relax. Since Lily has known Rosaleen a long time she is comfortable expressing herself around Rosaleen and knows that Rosaleen will listen to her problems and insecurities. "'I was the only one who knew that despite her sharp ways, her heart was more tender than a flower skin and she loved me beyond reason'" (11). Rosaleen and Lily have a connection that most mothers and daughters have. They care

When Lily and Rosaleen join August Boatwright’s house, August is warm and welcoming, and Lily can breathe a

Lily and Rosaleen are both fighting and seeking a better life that doesn’t involve cruelty. What really got them moving out of the town they are living in is the danger they would face if Rosaleen got caught escaping from jail. Lily said to Rosaleen,

Wesley Howard was married to Rose’s mother, Elizabeth Parsons. Soon after that, the couple had begun expecting a child. But, Elizabeth had died soon after Rose’s birth. Wesley is absolutely devastated by his wife’s death. He gets a ragtag engineering gig, spends most of his time at a bar called the Luck of the Irish, and talks down to Rose many times due to how much he misses his late wife. Wesley never even tells Rose that her mother died, he tells her that she left because he feels like she left him to raise his daughter by himself. He takes care of Rose because it’s the last connection to his wife, he finds Rain and gives it to Rose to make it happy. But after Hurricane Susan, he loses his job, he loses his house, and Rose gives up Rain. ““I was just trying to do something nice for her,” says my father. “I got her a dog and she gave it back. The one great thing I did. The one great thing.”” This quote is on page 210, and it shows how much he wants to protect and care for his child. On page 210, “Rose is fine. She has all she needs here. She’s just fine.” this quote shows how the author uses repetition to expose the desperateness and weakness he feels at the thought of losing Rose. But, this ignites a feeling of realization in Wesley, and he has an epiphany in the middle of the night. He wakes Rose up, drives her over to his brother and her uncle Weldon’s home, and drops her off. Right before driving away, he gives his daughter an affectionate and warm hug before driving off. Wesley realizes that Rose needs a support system to grow and live as an eleven year old child. She’s feeling more lonely after giving back Rain to the Hendersons, and he wasn’t there for her, but his brother was. His brother can give Rose the life she deserves: Weldon understands her, he has a money and job to provide for her, he’s

Rosaleen was Lily’s maid while she was living with her father, T-Ray. Lily runs away from home with Rosaleen. At first Rosaleen doesn’t know where they are going and eventually Lily tells her. This quote is said by Rosaleen when she finds out what is really going on. “I get it. You ran off ‘cause of what your daddy said about your mother. It didn’t have nothing to do with me in jail”(Kidd 53). This quote is significant because it makes Rosaleen think that Lily doesn’t really care about her. Eventually August and Lily talk about Lily’s mother. Rosaleen and August knew about Lily’s mother. This quote is said by Lily while she was getting comforted by Rosaleen. “I wish you’d told me what you knew about my mother”(Kidd 264). This quote is significant because Lily realizes all the secrets that were hidden from her. Rosaleen taught Lily that the truth isn’t always great through keeping secrets from

Luckily for Lily, she comes upon the Boatwright sisters once she reaches Tiburon. Because of the fact Lily does not have anyone to share her love with, she is compelled to stay and live with the Boatwrights. At one point in the novel, Lily and August are having a conversation when August asks Lily “What else do you love Lily?”(Kidd 39). Lily then thinks to herself, “No one had ever asked me that before. What did I love? Right off the bat I wanted to say that I loved the picture of my mother…but I had to swallow that back”(39). Lily does not feel comfortable enough yet that she says, “ I love writing poems, just give me something to write, and I’ll love it” despite the fact that Lily really loves August (39). She loves August so much that she would rather stay in Tiburon with the Boatwrights than be with her own father T. Ray. The loss of Deborah results in Lily going to obtain love somewhere other than her own home. This is also why Lily takes Rosaleen with her. Rosaleen is a black nanny who used to work on T. Ray’s farm. She has been there for Lily in the past but she cannot always be there one hundred percent because of her race. Due to Deborah’s death, Lily does not have a mother figure, however, he journey to Tiburon with Rosaleen proves to be a success as she finds the Boatwrights and strengthens her relationship with her nanny, Rosaleen.

Rosaleen took care of Lily and T. Ray since Deborah died as their housekeeper. Since Lily was young T.Ray punished her by forcing her to kneel on grits. When T.Ray found Lily sleeping outside he forced her to kneel for an hour. Lily was used to kneeling but when she saw Rosaleen's expression she felt weak again. Rosaleen is an emotional support for Lily. Until she befriends August, Lily always went to Rosaleen for comfort.

Some critics have advanced the notion that one of the reasons there is such a paucity of women and of strong, beneficent women in particular within this story is due to what they represented in typical Victorian England society. Women were generally viewed as "a social force or a source of authority" which "reinforces this fiction of coherent male identity" (Doane and Hodges 63). This quotation suggests the fact that women were generally the keepers of morality and virtue within Victorian

Throughout the Victorian Age, male dominance deprived women from freedom of choice. In Charlotte Brontë’s novel, Jane Eyre, Jane Eyre repeatedly struggles to become an independent young lady due to the troublesome men in the story. There are several male characters who control, humiliate, and abuse their power over Jane. The author manages to depict patriarchal dominance through the characterization of John Reed, Mr. Brocklehurst, and Mr. Rochester.

The novel, Bread and Roses Too, is a story written by Katherine Paterson in 2006. This book takes you through the hard life of a young child, named Rosa, during the Bread and Roses strike of the mill workers of 1912. This story took place in Lawrence, Massachusetts, and displays the different hardships that had to be overcome the Bread and Roses Strike. Rosa is a young child who is living through the highest peaks of the strike of the mill workers, and she is not sure what to think of it. Confused by all the commotion, she stays close to her most authoritative figure in her life, her mother. When Rosa figures out that her mother is approving and supporting this strike, Rosa has concerns for her mother and why she is doing what she is

“Jane Eyre” is a book centred around female duality. In a time when females were still expected to fulfill their “womanly duties,” Charlotte Bronte wrote a novel dealing with a woman’s view on morality & sexuality, passion & sensibility, and conformity & insanity, among other themes. This motif of duality plays a strong part in the dynamism that makes up the book, and is not limited to the themes, but is also used to relate many of the characters to the titular Jane. In “The Mystery at Thornfield,” Valerie Beattie makes claims that the character Bertha Mason’s insanity is a representation of rebellion toward the limitations of Victorian women. Not only is

    One may infer that Dickens may have been attempting to acknowledge the birth of female freedom, due to the industrial revolution, by way of the female characters' actions within Great Expectations. Considering that he creates such verbal execution performed by many of the female characters within the novel suggests that women were usually treated as equals, this not being the case. By allowing these women to be verbally and physically abusive, Dickens may have been presenting the distorted idea toward female criminals and violent women.

Through the Victorian Age, male dominance deprived women from a certain freedom. In Charlotte Brontë’s novel, Jane Eyre, Jane Eyre repeatedly struggles to become an independent young lady due to the troublesome men in the story. John Reed controls Jane, Mr. Brocklehurst humiliates Jane, and Mr. Rochester sees women, in general, as objects. The author manages to depict patriarchal dominance through the characterization of John Reed, Mr. Brocklehurst, and Mr. Rochester.