Portfolio Essay

The Professor and the Madman is a brilliant novel written by Simon Winchester that discusses the journey of two astonishing men who are working on writing the Oxford English Dictionary. The novel gives readers such amazing insights into the captivating story of James Murray and William Minor, as well as provides readers with the opportunity to explore the feminist theory side of the story. I found that after studying how the feminist theory applies to The Professor and the Madman, I was really intrigued and wanted to further my knowledge on the theory. Although some of my previous blog posts discuss the feminst theory within the novel, I wanted to talk about a few ideas that I did not mention. The Professor and the Madman is a prime example of how women were treated in the Victorian era. They were almost completely excluded, were treated like children and did not receive a proper education. 

As I mentioned before, The Professor and the Madman is set in Victorian England in the 18th century, and since it is set in this time period, women were excluded from society, which is why there are almost no female characters in the novel. However, when women were included in the storyline, they were always linked to men. For example, how Eliza Merrett is only kept in the storyline because she was a widow and brought Dr. Minor books to help him write the dictionary. In addition to Eliza, there was also the brief mention of Ada Murray, James Murray’s wife, who was described as ‘’more his social and intellectual equal’’ (Winchester, 61). This portrays that although Ada was considered intelligent, she was never seen as anything else other than James’ wife who cared for their 11 children. The female characters in the story were rarely mentioned and when they were, they always had to be associated with men, which is what Victorian England in the 18th century was like, women always having to be associated to men. 

In addition to women rarely being mentioned, they were considered immature and uneducated as well. Winchester writes that the women were housemaids, and were supposedly scared of fireworks, while the men were acting very calm and relaxed, ‘’Like the frightened housemaids who hurried back down to the servant’s entrances of the great houses nearby… but there were men who had outgrown such energetic diversions, eager to escape the sound of excitement and celebration and return to scholarly discourse’’ (Winchester, 87). Women were basically treated like children in the Victorian era, as they were clearly depicted as scared and helpless. Although Queen Victoria was a high-status female at the time, women still received little education and social status in comparison to men. In all fairness, I am not surprised that there were very few women that helped in the making of the Oxford English Dictionary. Because of the lack of female roles in the novel and the way that women were spoken about, it is very clear that women in the Victorian era were treated with indecency.

To further this idea, women also received very little education. Elizabeth Blackwell was the first woman to graduate from medical school was in the 1850s, with school being invented about 100 years prior to this (Khalsa). The first dictionaries, unsuccessful in their creation, were meant for the ‘’uneducated’’ at the time, ‘’educating of the uneducated (among who were counted the women of the day, who often enjoyed little schooling)’’ (Winchester, 91). Simon Winchester is aware that the women at the time were uneducated, however, I find it very strange that he decided to add the word ‘’enjoyed’’ into the sentence of how little schooling women received. I believe that he had no right to add the word ‘’enjoyed’’, as he would have no idea or evidence of what women liked or wanted. 

In conclusion, I believe that all what I mentioned is evidence as to why The Professor and the Madman pertains to the feminist theory. I truly believe that this novel is a prime example as to how women were marginalized in the Victorian era, as they always had to be associated with men, they were excluded,  they were treated like children and they never had the chance to receive a proper education. Overall, I really enjoyed this book because it shed so much light on the feminist theory and it gave me the opportunity to research a new topic. This novel is truly inspiring and moving and I recommend it to anyone.