How the feminist theory applies to The Professor and the Madman

Since there was only a choice of two theories that could be applied to this novel, and I could not think of a way to connect the post colonial theory to the story, I decided to discuss the relevance of the feminist theory in The Professor and the Madman.

In The Professor and the Madman, there is a lack of female presence in the story. The text does not include one single female character with their own independent identity. There are no strong female characters in the novel except for a few that are primarily identified as someone's mother or wife, rather than as their own person. For example, there is William Minor’s mother, who was never identified by another name, and there is Eliza Merrett, who was George Merrett’s wife and is portrayed as a grieving widow. Throughout the entire story so far, there is almost no female influence or presence. 

I believe that women are very marginalized in the story and are portrayed as ‘’accessories’’ to the male characters in the novel. For example, when the story brings in James Murray’s future wife, she is introduced as ‘’Ada Ruthven, whose father worked for the Great Indian Peninsular Railway and was an admirer of Alexander von Humboldt’’ (Winchester, 36). Before even being first identified as Muray’s wife, she is identified as the daughter of a man who worked for a railway company. This is a prime example of how the few women in the story are constantly being defined by the men they are associated with. 

I believe that the location of the story of The Professor and the Madman is a major reason why the women in the story are so marginalized. The story takes place in Victorian England, where things were not progressive by modern standard. Although the era was reigned by Queen Victoria, a very powerful and prominent woman, women were still viewed as less by men. For example, the purpose of creating dictionaries was “for the benefit and help of ladies, gentlewoman or any other unskillful persons whereby they may more easily and better understand many hard English words” (Winchester, 103). The creation of the dictionary is a major plot element in the story, and the words of Winchester clearly state that they were made to help benefit women, as they were viewed as helpless. 

In addition to this, in Victorian England, women were viewed as the property of their husbands, as they did not have the right to vote, own property, sue and etc. Although women were beginning to enter the workforce, their wages still went to their husbands. Society expected women to stay at home, look after the children, clean and cook. These standards from the Victorian era highly contribute to the feminist theory, as they are prime examples of how women are seen as incapable incomparison to men.

In conclusion, the women in the story were marginalized not because Simon Winchester has a Victorian era mindset, but because the story is nonfiction and requires historical records for perspective and information. Since women were so marginalized in Victorian times, they did not have a huge impact or role in The Professor and the Madman. Even though the story does not contain all of the key points of the feminist theory, it still has very prominent ones such as their status levels and roles in the story, which do contribute to the theory.