It took me a while to get into this book, but once you do it provides a really interesting insight into gender and ideology in early colonial times in Australia/Britain. This book was kind of hard to read for me - plus the fact that it is quite long - but it definitely does raise some points of how one can never escape the ideology they were brought up in.
Novels are often concerned with exploring the confusions and complexities associated with gender. This can be seen in A Fringe of Leaves by Patrick White, which explores the role of gender in the 1830’s. The characters in this novel create the complexities associated with gender, and conflict each other when the text’s position of the characters contrast to other character constructions and their relationships. Through the main character, Ellen, and her relationships with the aboriginals, Austin, Garnet and Jack, gender roles are explored, creating a confusing and complex text position of gender.
The relationship between Ellen and Austin in this novel creates a confusing and complex representation of gender, as their relationship opposes the traditional English values of gender at that time. The text position of Ellen and Austin’s relationship also contrast to Ellen’s relationship with Garnet and Jack, as well as her role in the aboriginal society. In A Fringe of Leaves, Ellen is represented as the protector and dominant one, with Austin being the weak and frail one. This is completely opposite to English traditional beliefs that females were the passive and males were the strong and dominant. ‘It was she who came to her senses…and assumes her normal role of protector.” She is portrayed as being strong and assuming the usual male role in the marriage, with Austin in a role reversal and carrying society’s expectations of a female. This is confusing as it goes against the traditional values of that time, and presents Ellen in a positive light as well, with the author mocking Austin for not being masculine enough. “Presumably included in the invitation, the lady’s husband was left to accompany her to whichever asylum she happened to choose…” shows the role reversal between Austin and Ellen and creates the complex situation which they are in. By mocking Austin for not being masculine enough, White could be seen as promoting the idea of the traditional gender roles – where both genders should stick to their roles expected by them of society. This contrasts to the narrators representation of Ellen though, who is seen positively for being against the social expectations of her, and for assuming the role males would normally have.
Ellen’s character in this novel represents her in a positive light by going against the usual gender stereotypes, beliefs and values. This can be seen when she is at Cheltenham, while she is with Austin on the ship to England, and even while she is with Garnet. “Removing the superfluous bonnet…she felt only remotely related to Ellen Roxburgh...” shows her detachment from the values of the upper class and of her role in that class. Her use of clothing to symbolize her acting in her role in society shows how she felt about her gender role, and how fake people were in the upper class. Ellen’s rejection of the roles of the upper class shows her different position from that of the other people in her class, and puts her in a positive light for being herself. “It was the greatest luxury…to be sitting alone, to give up the many faceted role she had been playing…” also shows the reader the negativity of the role of women in society. This quote shows that the class put too much restraint on women and how the gender roles in society were constricting and limiting. Ellen represents the author’s opposition to society’s values of gender by representing her in a positive light by acknowledging she was acting as society expected her to, and being detached from society’s gender expectations. Her adultery with Garnet brings Ellen a self discovery, and although she does seem to regret it after, she also discovers part of herself which puts her in a separate position from what was expected from her from society- she needed to find herself with Garnet. Her adultery with Garnet is written as a positive thing for Ellen to find out about herself. It shows that gender roles of society were constricting and people acted on instinct rather than expectations. The author uses Ellen to put society’s traditional gender roles in a negative light, saying there were too many restrictions. This idea is confusing as it contradicts the text’s position of Austin, where the narrator was mocking him for not being masculine enough. While White reinforces the gender roles through Austin, Ellen’s relationship with Garnet and Austin contrast this, saying that gender roles in society were restricting and did not belong to the Australian landscape.
Ellen and her relationship with Jack Chance later in the novel also explore the confusions and complexities associated with gender. While Ellen is with Jack, she falls in love with him ever though he is a murderer and a convict. Jack saves Ellen from the aborigines and is helping to bring her back to civilisation. The gender roles of the two in the bush are equal between them, and there are no expectations from society which are placed on them. Jack does however seem weaker and more emotional than Ellen, which contradicts society’s beliefs of gender. Ellen and Jacks relationship is confusing as it seems the most genuine relationship in the whole of the novel, despite him being a convicted murderer – “There Ellen!...I knew we’d understand each other..” He is also the total opposite to Austin – he is from the working class, and acts on instinct rather than appearances. The representations of these two characters this way shows that society’s expectations of gender when they were outside of society. The relationship between Ellen and Jack show the reader that gender roles didn’t exist in the bush as they were equal and detached from society. Ellen’s choice to move back into civilization though, and leave Jack in the bush creates a complex situation where she chooses to regain her place in society by trying to fit back into the upper class. This shows that society will always have expectations placed on people and it is inescapable. This idea of gender contrasts with that of the relationship between Austin and Ellen, where White both supports and challenges the idea of the traditional gender roles in society.
Ellen’s relationship with the aboriginals in this book also contrasts to the construction of the other characters, creating a complex issue of gender. The aborigines are a tribe and totally detached from Australian society. They do however seem to maintain some values of gender which is parallel to that of the ones in England. “Where the women slouched, grown slommacky from bearing children…the males were still...personable and were…often handsome…” shows that it was the females who looked after the children, while the males hunted. This parallels the Australian/English society, where the women stayed at home and looked after the children, while the men provided and protected. The representation of the aboriginals as a tribe also creates some complexity though, as the women also help to gather food. While there are the differences of the gender roles between the aboriginals and English, the parallels of the two can be seen in a way that women are always seen as the weak and passive ones, no matter what culture. This creates the complexity of gender between the two cultures, and shows that only a select few like Ellen are in a reversed gender role. It also shows that gender roles exist in all societies and that men and women always seemed to have the same role in society. This is complex and confusing as this idea contrasts to Ellen’s position in society, with her seemingly being a provider and protector of Austin.
Through the representation of Ellen and her relationship with the characters of the novel, White creates a confusing and complex view of gender. Although he puts Ellen in a positive light for not following society’s expectations of her, he criticizes Austin for not being masculine enough. He also represents Garnet as a villain, who is a masculine character, but also as a means for Ellen to explore outside her boundaries. The complexities associated with gender also involves Ellen and her relationship with Jack, where he kills his wife Mab for adultery, but is seen positively for allowing Ellen to discover her true self. The fact that Ellen moulds back into society and its values after her return from the bush effectively shows how people cannot escape the gender roles of society and although there are confusing/complex ideas of gender, there are always those expectations in society which you have to follow.