Gender - Lamp at Noon

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In Sinclair Ross’ short story The Lamp at Noon, Ross expresses the gender roles impact on family life and social dynamics. It is the struggle to fulfil these societal-dictated norms that Ross problematizes in The Lamp at Noon by examining the relationship between Paul and his wife Ellen. It is the gender roles of the time that both Ellen and Paul adopt that ultimately leads the death of their baby and the loss of his Ellen’s sanity. Paul is ignorant of Ellen’s feelings of lonesomeness and extreme depression that the farm life causes her because he is so focused and adamant on efficiently providing for his wife and infant child the only way he knows how: tilling the land acre by acre, and year after year. Given the social context of the 1930’s, this was a common lifestyle for couples living in Prairie Provinces. Gender roles were very clear and accepted by prairie society. The male played a central role to family life, being the sole provider of food, shelter and clothing for his family. The male spent most of his time outdoors tending to the land and to the animals. The role of the female was a domesticated one that was limited to the home and included cooking, cleaning and taking care of any children. Ross makes clear that these gender roles are a source of great conflict for both Ellen and Paul. Ellen’s gender role of being a farmer’s wife is a causal factor to the tragic consequences that take place at the end of the story. The life of a farmer’s wife is a lonely and secluded one. Ellen does not get to enjoy the company of another and is often left alone; not even the company of her husband because he is occupied outside. Ellen compares her life to one in captivity, “ I’m so caged – if I could only break away and run – I stand like this all day. I can’t relax. My throat is so tight it aches –“ (Ross, 159). Ross is able to describe the immense loneliness that
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