Gender Roles In J. M. Barrie's The Separate Sphere

Gender roles are a set of societal standards that mandate which types of behaviors are considered appropriate, desirable, and acceptable for a person based upon the sex that they are born into. During the Victorian era, men and women were subjected to an ideology which defined masculinity and femininity. The Separate Sphere ideology was embraced and not questioned because society gradually led people to believe they knew what was right and what was wrong. Although the concept of gender separation has been around for centuries, it clearly emerged during the Industrial Revolution when women began to their voice. J.M. Barrie does a notable job at incorporating Victorian era gender roles into his novel, Peter Pan, through his male and female characters.
The Separate Spheres ideology placed women in a domestic sphere and men in a public sphere. According the the Separate Sphere philosophy, females must be a true woman. A “true woman” is one who possessed all four of the following virtues which made up the domestic sphere: “piety, purity, submissiveness, and
domesticity.” Portraying each category of the domestic sphere meant that society considered her an ideal woman. Evolution and biology were the basis of the theory professing women as the weaker sex. In addition to biologically being the weaker sex, women had to go through the exhausting undertakings of “pregnancy, menstruation and [the] child-rearing” process. With little energy left, women were told “to stay at home in order to conserve [their remaining] energy” for raising the children, cooking all of the meals and cleaning the house. This demonstrates submissiveness and domesticity because women accept and quietly follow the rules. Women who were dependant desired strong men thus leading to the creation of families in which men claimed unquestionable superiority. While women were expected to be naturally religious, sexually pure, weak, dependant, and timid, “men were supposed to be strong, wise, and forceful”. Because men did not have to endure the pain women did, they were expected to do more active activities such as hunt and work and be the providers of their families. Need transition In Peter Pan, Mrs.
Darling perfectly fits the “true woman” mold as she is nurturing, displays weakness, and cleans. During the opening scenes of the book, Mrs. Darling watches her children, through the doorway of their rooms, fall asleep. Once she knows they have completely fallen asleep, she “rummages [through] their minds [to] put things straight for the next morning” (Barrie 6). The metaphor of Mrs. Darling tidying up her children’s minds represents how she delicately shapes them into well-behaved children and teaches them morals. When Mrs. Darling sees her children flying away with Peter Pan, she becomes melancholy and does nothing but worry and wait for her children’s return. Mrs. Darling seems to be in physical pain as she “moves [her hand] restlessly on her breast as if she had a pain there” (Barrie 142). Because Mrs. Darling cares deeply for her children, she believes she is suffering from physical
pain.

Mr. Darling represents the “real man” mold as he is constantly worrying about how others see him, the breadwinner of the family, and stressed about his job.
The Darling family has a dog as their nanny, and while Mr. Darling knows that they have the best nursery, “he sometimes wonder[s] uneasily whether the neighbours talk” (Barrie 6).
Men who are considered masculine are portrayed in terms of genius, ambition and dominance, qualities that give the impression of superiority and self-improvement