Reversed Stereotypes: Failed Women and Feminine Figures During life in the 19th century, the ideals of femininity, masculinity, and motherhood were standards that were widely accepted by Victorian society. However, the novel incorporates contradictions within the social norms with female characters who dishonor these principles and male characters who replace the role of the failed women. In Great Expectations, author Charles Dickens subverts popular Victorian ideals and stereotypes through the characters Mrs. Joe, Miss Havisham, and Joe Gargery. Mrs. Joe, unlike a typical female living in the late 1800s, has power in the household, but does not act as a good mother figure to Pip. She “almost always wore a coarse apron, fastened over her figure behind with two loops, and having a square …show more content…
The apron she wears is a symbol of confinement in gender stereotypes as society often thinks of women as housewives. In contrast, the “impregnable” bib states how she is invulnerable and unable to be captured into these gender standards. The pins and needles represent her breaking and piercing the misogyny. Additionally, throughout the entire novel, readers will recognize that Mrs. Joe is only referred to as “Mrs. Joe”, with no other mention of her first or maiden name. This contrasts to a traditional standpoint on marriage where a woman will give up her surname to show that she is “owned” by the male. Instead, Mrs. Joe uses Joe’s first name, representing her taking his identity and not being in possession of Joe. This displays how she has authority over Joe, and not the other way around. Besides having power, how Mrs. Joe treats Pip is another example of her stepping outside the expectations of a woman. Mrs. Joe confesses to Pip and Joe after beating them, “I must truly say that I’ve