Atwood’s Presentation of her Female Characters Essay -- Alias Grace Ma

Atwoods Presentation of her Female CharactersEarly in the novel Atwood presents us with the division between ladiesand women. The example given is boon compared to the governors wifeand the ladies who frequently visit her. It seems that grace wishesthat she was a lady when she comments I feature no gloves this showsthat Grace is conscious of her appearance even if she is in prison.Grace cannot sit on the governors wifes settee without opinion ofthe ladies that have sat there before her who have bums like wobblysoft boiled eggs. These ladies are compared to jellyfish that gracehas seen in her childhood, Grace shows admiration for these ladies asshe says they were bell shaped and ruffled Atwood also makes thepoint through grace that ladies of this time were restricted. This isachieved by the mentioning of wire crinolines that were Likebirdcages the ladies were not allowed to touch or brush up againstother mens legs. Grace is now talking about legs in sexual way (also other sign of t he times) the governors wife never says legs thiscommen...