Canada Portrait Of A Woman Analysis

The literary device of symbolism is used here to conform one of the roles for women in this patriarchal society or else, they are left as outsiders in society. After Grace gets the job to work as a house servant for Mrs. Alderman Parkinson, she meets Mary Whitney who influences Grace to follow the roles of women in order for her to have a positive life as a woman, instead of becoming an outsider:
I should remember that we were not slaves, and being a servant was not a thing we were born to…it was just a job of work. She said it was the custom for young girls in this country to hire themselves out, in order to earn the money for their dowries; and then they would marry, and if their husbands prospered they would soon be hiring their own servants in their turn…one day I would be the mistress of a tidy farmhouse, and independent. (Atwood 157-158).
This shows that Mary is willing to follow the roles of women and she ensures Grace conforms the role of being a servant so she does not become an outsider if she decides to try out new roles. In Canada, working as a domestic servant in the nineteenth century was a popular job for women and The Canadian Encyclopedia looks at women going into the domestic work force during that time period:
Domestic service became a distinctively female occupation in Canada during the 19th century…by the late 19th century over 90% of Canadian servants were female. Domestic service was the most common paid employment for Canadian women before 1900: in 1891 there were nearly 80 000 women servants in Canada. (The Canadian