The female characters overthrow traditional gender roles at points in The Secret Garden also. Although Colin is spoilt as ‘“Everyone is obliged to do what pleases [him]’ with a threat 'It makes [him] ill to be angry,’ Mary is still seen to subvert his domination and hierarchical power as she ‘teaches him that the whole orange does not belong to him'. Mary having some influence over her cousin; although ‘there was a great deal of joking’ about it, had enabled her to become ‘his master’ the masculine term creating an idea of power/superiority.
Much like Hatty, Mary works to subvert the typical conjugal roles, she is a dramatic device/voice that allows the narrator to comment on issues with gender, as well as race. Her discoveries, thanks to