How the Characters of Claudia and Jasper comply with traditional Gender Roles in "Moon Tiger" by Penelope Lively

Abstract or Introduction

The understanding of a "traditional" gender role depends on innumerable things. For instance it is important to know which time period is applied because of historical, cultural and social happenings in that time. Therefore, traditional gender roles are based on standards or norms created by society. The novel "Moon Tiger" written by Penelope Lively takes place in the century of the Great War and World War II. In that time, the two sociologists Talcott Parsons and Robert Freed Bales established the theory that gender roles of men and women are divided. The distinction is that the male gender role represents the function as a breadwinner and worker, whereas the female gender role is personified by childcaring tasks and domestic works. They suggest that traditional women and men are supposed to do certain things, and act in a particular manner. For thinking traditional, it is best going back to the Bible. Referenced to that, traditional thinking about gender roles also includes religion as well as the Bible for the sake of suggested and expected behavior patterns.

When analyzing traditional gender roles in Penelope Lively’s "Moon Tiger" it becomes obvious that Jasper corresponds with traditional gender roles, and Claudia is a character who does not comply with that. In the latter case, reasons for this purpose are nonconformities in the traditional thinking by means of the bible, the theory of Parsons and Bales, or general expected characteristic traits. In the following the term "traditional gender roles" or "traditional" refers to the already mentioned definitions.