“Growing a Lady”, a look into the development of the female main characters in A Wrinkle in Time and The Secret Garden
Although The Secret Garden and A Wrinkle in Time were written more than fifty years apart and cover very different topics they are filled with a few important similarities. The main characters of the novels are both young girls who undergo a transformation process that helps them to grow and mature. Both girls start with similar unfavorable personality traits and end with a more pleasant and soft demeanor. Although the main characters in these texts are girls it seems that both novels promote the traditional characteristics associated with femininity. In this essay I will argue that both A Wrinkle in Time and The Secret Garden are narratives that focus on young girls’ development into the traditional view of proper, feminine young ladies.
At the beginning of the two books both girls are described as not being typical young children. Mary takes on the nickname
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“Mary quite contrary”. She is bossy, rude, bitter, and unpleasant. At the beginning of the story she is described as “. . . as tyrannical and selfish a little pig as ever lived.”(Burnett 2) Mary frequently demands she get her own way and pays little attention to the rules at Misselthwaite Manor. Frances Dolan, expert on early English and children’s literature, establishes Mary as a “shrew” type character that is often found in fictional texts. She lists Mary’s shrew-like characteristics as “. . . defiant self-assertion; insubordination; a questing, intrusive curiosity; an irritable sense of grievance and inclination to quarrel; and physical violence.”(204) The important distinction between the idea that Mary is simply an ill-behaved child and a shrew is that the shrew character is a women who is negatively depicted as lacking the characteristics a female is expected to have. It is not simply that Mary and other shrew characters are angry and full of rage. Their other, less offensive characteristics are also looked down on, such as curiosity and tendency to quarrel. All of the traits listed by Dolan show that Mary isn’t complying with the traditional gender roles of the time period and this makes her unlikeable. Dolan explains that it isn’t simply the fact that Mary is rude and angry that makes her a shrew: it is her defiance towards everyone around her. Dolan says, “The word "contrary," with its emphasis on opposition, antagonism, and difference, pits its bearer against the world, since "contrary" only has meaning in relation to that against which it runs athwart. In her contrariness, Mary resembles the shrew. . . What defines the shrew above all is her oppositional stance. She understands herself as in conflict with or contrary to others; she is unable to submit herself to authority and strenuously resists attempts to subordinate her.” (207). Clearly Mary fits this description of a shrew. I believe that we can take Dolan’s argument a step further to relate it to the gender expectations put on young women in the Victorian era. Mary is not only in conflict with the people around her but she is refusing to submit to the expectations put on a young women: to be quiet, gentle, kind, and respectful. In A Wrinkle in Time we can see similar patterns in the main character, Meg. Although Meg is much more likeable to the reader than Mary is she is also viewed as opposing society’s traditional gender stereotypes. Meg gets in trouble at school for talking back and being defiant. She also gets scolded by her mother and brothers for trying to fight a boy. Meg’s mother tells her she needs to find a “happy medium” between being her “tom-boy” herself and acting more calm and rational: like the lady she should be. Meg herself recognizes that her forward and somewhat masculine behavior is causing her to be disliked by her peers. Although the gender expectations changed significantly between the 1910s and 1960s when this book was published the similarities in Meg and Mary’s situations are clear. They are aggressive, quick-tempered, and quick to express their emotions. These traits make outsiders in the world around them and set them in opposition to the expectations for a young female of their time. Another similarity between Meg and Mary’s stories is that they both meet a male friend who helps them with their character development. While at Misselthwaite Manor Mary meets a young boy named Dickon. Dickon is a gentle boy whose connection to nature and joyful spirit are direct opposites of Mary’s initial character. Similarly, Meg meets a kind, laid-back young man named Calvin who immediately grows to like her despite what others say about her. Dickon and Calvin’s characters are strikingly alike. They both befriend young girls who are generally disliked by others. They have the ability to see through the girls’ harsh exteriors in ways no one else can and coax them to open up. These two male characters are central in the girls’ development. They become friends with them and offer the security of knowing someone accepts and care about them. Although there are no outright mentions of romance between the youths in either book there is an implied sense opposite sex admiration that both girls have for the boys. It seems as though the girls need to have the support of a relationship from someone of the opposite sex before they can fully embrace the feminine role they are meant to fulfil. Mary’s relationship with Colin and Meg’s relationship with Charles Wallace are comparable as well. The turning point comes for each girl when they somehow “rescue” a male companion. Meg’s little brother Charles Wallace becomes hypnotized by “The Dark Thing” and the only one who can save him is Meg. Author of “Finding a Happy Medium: The Design for Womanhood in A Wrinkle in Time.”, Katherine Schneebaum, points out that although Meg’s stubborn and feisty attitude allow her to fight against the powers of “the dark thing” she ultimately has to become in touch with her soft, motherly nature to bring Charles Wallace back. Schneebaum says, “Charles Wallace must be saved not through the mind, but through the heart.
Even if love is considered the key, though, it is not as clear as Meg would have it that she is the only one who can do the job; Mr. Murry, despite his prolonged absence, is still Charles's father, and loves him although he may not really know him. The criterion by which Meg and the others choose her as the savior is gender.” (36) Schneebaum is explaining that just love wasn’t enough to save Calvin. He needed a motherly figure and Meg had to become one to save Charles Wallace. Throughout this book’s readers follow Meg through a process of maturing. We can see Meg grow form the obnoxious and strong willed young girl to a loving and gentle mother figure. As Schneebaum explains, at the end of the novel Meg realizes that, “must assume the role of mother to save her "baby" brother.” (34) The process of saving a vulnerable male character was the final step in Meg’s change into an acceptable young
woman. Mary goes through a similar transformation with her cousin, Colin. When Mary first meets Colin he is also a loud, angry, and rude character. His major problem though is his health and that he is convinced he is going to die. Mary introduces him to the garden and the love of nature which begins to heal him. After Colin begins to become healthy Mary takes a back seat in the story. I believe this point in the story reveals her development into a more sensitive woman who takes on the position of being subordinate to the men in her life. I see the story of The Secret Garden to be Mary’s transformation into a proper young lady so that she is able to take on her traditional role of being a support to men. Both A Wrinkle in Time and The Secret Garden contain an example of the ideal woman of the time period. In A Wrinkle in Time this woman is Meg’s mother. Mrs Murry is a hard working mother, successful career woman, and faithful wife. Katherine Schneebaum points out that both Meg with her fiery personality and Mrs. Murry’s career success are non-traditional characters for the time the book was written, “L'Engle's portrayal of women was truly progressive for the era, foreshadowing the women's liberation movement, which would not explode with its full force until the later years of that decade.” (30) Although Meg and her mother are not the typical women of the sixties their portrayal in the novel has not fully escaped the gender expectations of the time period. As previously mentioned Meg’s personality is viewed negatively by herself and others and Mrs. Murry is not strictly a career woman. Mrs Murry’s motherly traits as well as her beauty are frequently mentioned in the novel. It is clear Meg wishes she could be more like her mother and Mrs Murry serves as a model for Meg as to what she should hope to become: the perfect woman with a “happy medium” between ambition and feminine softness. The ideal woman figure in The Secret Garden is Colin’s mother, Mrs Craven. Although Mrs. Craven had passed away and never actually appears in the book she represents the image of perfect motherly love and kindness. She is always described as sweet, loving, and beautiful. Her death deeply affected Mr. Craven; it was clear the she loved him very much and was a wonderful wife. Throughout the book the garden is associated with Mrs. Craven’s spirit as that’s where she died but that was also her favorite place to be. The more time the characters spend in the garden the closer they grow to Mrs. Craven and in the case of Mary, the more like her she becomes. Colin’s mother is a character foil for Mary at the beginning of the story and is also the image of the perfect Victorian woman. Although I see both A Wrinkle in Time and The Secret Garden as texts that promote traditional values of femininity, Linda Parsons, a scholar on gender issues in literature finds that The Secret Garden contains a more empowering message on female roles. Parsons feels that when The Secret Garden is read as a fairytale we can interpret it as Mary’s “quest” to save both herself and Colin. Parsons writes that Mary maintains the most power of any character throughout the book as she is the most connected to the garden. Parson’s believes that, “The power of the house is masculine in origin and that of the garden is feminine.” (258) She points out that the garden contains the healing powers of life while that house seems to be dreary and make people ill. With Mary having more power in the garden leads to her being the more powerful character, according to Parsons. She also says that, “Mary advances much farther than Colin along the path to self-discovery, thereby enhancing her power.”(260). While I do agree that Mary is more connected to the Garden and seems to develop more than Colin I disagree with Parson’s assertion that The Secret Garden promotes an idea of strong and powerful women. It is important to note that most of Mary’s “strong” or “powerful” traits that she posses early on in the novel, such as being assertive and demanding, are seen as unbecoming and she eventually loses them. Any power Mary does maintain at the end of the novel is centered in the garden, a place that is generally associated with the feminine sphere. I feel that if There Secret Garden were truly a narrative that was promoting non-traditional gender stereotypes Mary would have maintained a less passive roll and may have had influence inside the house, not just in the garden. I feel that this novel follows Mary’s transformation to a less powerful character rather than more powerful, which can be observed at the end of the story when Mary completely disappears from the narration. I believe that both A Wrinkle in Time and The Secret Garden are children’s stories that follow young girls on their journey from feisty, strong-willed, girls to proper young ladies. They both go through the maturing process with the help of supportive male friends and come to find their femininity through helping someone close to them. At the end of A Wrinkle in Time Meg has discovered the loving motherly traits she was lacking at the beginning of the novel. In the secret garden Mary takes a back seat to the male characters in the book but her unfavorable personality traits have disappeared. Although these two books have female protagonists, which was uncommon at the time either was written, they are still not feminist novels. We see both characters grow into the picture of proper young ladies, loved by their family and friends.
During the Victorian Era, society had idealized expectations that all members of their culture were supposedly striving to accomplish. These conditions were partially a result of the development of middle class practices during the “industrial revolution… [which moved] men outside the home… [into] the harsh business and industrial world, [while] women were left in the relatively unvarying and sheltered environments of their homes” (Brannon 161). This division of genders created the ‘Doctrine of Two Spheres’ where men were active in the public Sphere of Influence, and women were limited to the domestic private Sphere of Influence. Both genders endured considerable pressure to conform to the idealized status of becoming either a masculine ‘English Gentleman’ or a feminine ‘True Woman’. The characteristics required women to be “passive, dependent, pure, refined, and delicate; [while] men were active, independent, coarse …strong [and intelligent]” (Brannon 162). Many children's novels utilized these gendere...
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