Jamaica Inn Sparknotes
The role of women and their inferiority to men in a patriarchal society is shown through the eyes of both female protagonists in Jamaica Inn and Rebecca. Uncle Joss dominates the two females in his life, Mary and Patience, both mentally and physically in Jamaica Inn, using his power in a patriarchal society to threaten and control them. Du Maurier shows this control that men have over women with Mary’s comparison, “that in some sense they were here like mice in a trap, unable to escape, with him playing with them like a monstrous cat” (Jamaica Inn 25). This demonstrates how men have complete and utter authority and that women are the victims, being preyed upon by men. In England during the 1820s, there was a gender hierarchy in which the men
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were always at the top while women remained at the bottom, nearly powerless. Even when Mary tries to stand up to Uncle Joss, he proclaims, “I’m master in this house, and I’ll have you know it. You’ll do as you’re told… and I’ll not lay a finger on you.
But, by God, if you open your mouth and squark, I’ll break you until you eat out of my hand the same as your aunt” (Jamaica Inn 25-26). Patience is already in complete submission to Joss and does whatever he wants her to do. Joss tries to intimidate his niece, Mary, by threatening her with physical violence and even rape if she does not follow his orders. The theme of women being forced to conform to their subservient female role is supported by literary critics Avril Horner and Sue Zlosnik, who argue that in the classic Female gothic “... the heroine is under threat from a powerful male” (Horner and Zlosnik 75). Although Mary does not want to submit to Joss’ threats, she is terrified that if she doesn’t, she will transform into her weak, beaten down Aunt Patience. Another literary critic, Sylvie Maurel, describes the gothic elements in Jamaica Inn as, “the threatening and dilapidated inn to which the orphaned heroine is relocated harbors a typical Gothic villain, her Bluebeard-like uncle who denies access to a secret chamber, a typically victimized wife who lives in awe of her husband… ” (Maurel). This description emphasizes that Joss is a women-beating villain who dominates his own
wife. Mary is forced to comply with the patriarchal ideology in order to protect herself and Aunt Patience and make Joss believe that he is the male head of the household.
were always at the top while women remained at the bottom, nearly powerless. Even when Mary tries to stand up to Uncle Joss, he proclaims, “I’m master in this house, and I’ll have you know it. You’ll do as you’re told… and I’ll not lay a finger on you.
But, by God, if you open your mouth and squark, I’ll break you until you eat out of my hand the same as your aunt” (Jamaica Inn 25-26). Patience is already in complete submission to Joss and does whatever he wants her to do. Joss tries to intimidate his niece, Mary, by threatening her with physical violence and even rape if she does not follow his orders. The theme of women being forced to conform to their subservient female role is supported by literary critics Avril Horner and Sue Zlosnik, who argue that in the classic Female gothic “... the heroine is under threat from a powerful male” (Horner and Zlosnik 75). Although Mary does not want to submit to Joss’ threats, she is terrified that if she doesn’t, she will transform into her weak, beaten down Aunt Patience. Another literary critic, Sylvie Maurel, describes the gothic elements in Jamaica Inn as, “the threatening and dilapidated inn to which the orphaned heroine is relocated harbors a typical Gothic villain, her Bluebeard-like uncle who denies access to a secret chamber, a typically victimized wife who lives in awe of her husband… ” (Maurel). This description emphasizes that Joss is a women-beating villain who dominates his own
wife. Mary is forced to comply with the patriarchal ideology in order to protect herself and Aunt Patience and make Joss believe that he is the male head of the household.