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Joan Makes History by Kate Grenville - Gender, Class and Racial Issues
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The book Joan Makes History by Kate Grenville uses many techniques throughout to convey meaning and a clearer understanding about issues such a gender, race and class. Symbolism is employed to draw the reader into the events that circulate around the main character and absorb the reader, giving a deeper understanding of these three social issues that are featured in the novel. The issue of gender in Joan's society is perhaps the most prominent issue being explored by Grenville through the character Joan. The use of symbolism enhances the meaning and helps expose the various aspects of gender roles in Joan's society. "...father and daughter had the look of prisoner and warder..." Page 105 This passage implies the dominance of men over women. The term 'prisoner' signifies how the daughter could not escape from her father, and the term 'warder' conveys how he would not release her except to give her to another 'warder' - in this case, her husband. This was most often the relationship between males and females in Joan's time. A woman was the possesion of her father until she was married, and then she became the possession of her husband, and never escaped from her prison. "Husbands! Well, even I, Joan, would need one, I supposed, to give countenance to my salon, and pay the bills of my genius of a dressmaker..." Page 147 This statement of Joan's conveys the message that Joan was completely reliant upon her husband. Her reliance upon her husband's paying of her bills meant she could not bring in any income on her own, and was dependant upon him to look after her needs. The fact that Joan needed a husband to "...give countenance to my salon..." shows that Joan could not make her own way in the world without her husband.
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