Realism in literature is an approach that attempts to describe life without idealisation or romantic subjectivity. Although realism is not limited to any one century or group of writers, it is most often associated with the literary movement, started in 19th-century France. It is essentially concerned with the commonplaces of everyday life among the middle and lower classes, "
where character is a product of social factors and environment is the integral element in the dramatic complications" (Answers.com, 2003). Gender is a social and cultural construction, in that if there are two sexes - male and female (determined by biology) - then there are two genders - masculine and feminine (Abercrombie, Hill & Turner, 2000, pg149). The interpretation of gender then, in realism writings should reflect social and cultural norms established within that society. As realism can be a depiction of everyday life, so it is reasonable to say that issues of women in realism writings were realistic in their nature in accordance to nineteenth century norms and values. Off course issues of class have to be taken into consideration, as different women born into the differentiated social classes, were treated differently and consequently have been reflected in most realism writings accordingly. These representations often revolved around woman's reproductive abilities with the idea that a woman's place was in the home thereby reinforcing the notion of gender roles. The role of the male within the family institution was that of the breadwinner, who must go out and work, whilst his female counterpart stayed at home, kept it in immaculate condition and reared his children. What is to follow then is an analysis of gender issues as presented in Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House and Charles Dickens' Great Expectations, with main focus on the treatment of female characters.
Both texts, written in the 19th century depict society as preoccupied with notions of upward mobility within the...