Changing Role of Women in Howells' A Hazard of New Fortunes
This essay examines William Dean Howells' treatment of women in his 1890 novel A Hazard of New Fortunes, focusing on the contrasting figures of the traditional Mrs. March and the independent Alma Leighton. Published during a period of rising feminist activism, the novel uses these two characters to dramatize the tension between conventional domestic ideals and emerging ideas about women's autonomy. Through close reading of key dialogues and scenes, the paper argues that Howells' sympathetic portrayal of Mrs. March and his more critical treatment of Alma Leighton reveal his ambivalence toward the social changes transforming American gender relations at the close of the nineteenth century.
- Introduction: Women and Social Change in the 1880s: Novel's context within rising women's movement
- Mrs. March: The Traditional Wife and Her Authority: Mrs. March's domestic authority and traditional values
- Alma Leighton: The Independent New Woman: Alma's independence, conflict with mother, rejection of convention
- Conflict and Communication: Two Couples Compared: Contrasting relationship dynamics in each couple
- Howells' Perspective on Tradition and Modernity: Howells' ambivalence and preference for traditional values
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper anchors its argument in close textual evidence, using extended quotations from the novel to support each analytical claim rather than relying on vague summary.
- It maintains a clear comparative structure throughout, returning consistently to the Mrs. March / Alma Leighton contrast to develop a coherent interpretive thread.
- The historical framing — situating the novel's themes within the women's movement of the 1880s — gives the literary analysis meaningful social context without overreaching.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates effective use of character contrast as an analytical tool. By systematically comparing how Howells depicts Mrs. March and Alma Leighton across parallel situations — domestic responsibility, romantic relationships, and communication styles — the writer shows how an author's stylistic choices (sympathetic vs. critical portrayal) encode an ideological position. This technique transforms plot observation into literary argument.
Structure breakdown
The essay opens with historical context before introducing the two central characters and Howells' apparent preference between them. It then develops each character in turn through direct quotation and analysis, moves into a comparative discussion of the two couples' communication styles, and concludes with a synthesizing claim about Howells' own ideological stance. This funnel-then-compare structure keeps the argument focused and progressive.
Introduction: Women and Social Change in the 1880s
In A Hazard of New Fortunes, William Dean Howells explores a number of themes through the interaction of the novel's major characters. Much of his focus revolves around the women in the book and their interaction with each other and with men. Howells writes about issues contemporary to the time of the book's publication in 1890. Not coincidentally, the 1880s marked the beginning of a significant upsurge in the women's movement. A Hazard of New Fortunes presents women who abide by old values in contrast to women who have begun to adopt the values that eventually led to full suffrage, expanded educational opportunities, and broader career choices for women.
Women were becoming increasingly vocal about their opinions and were beginning to organize for a direct challenge to male-dominated institutions. No longer would a woman's role necessarily be restricted to duties at home. Beyond the obvious political significance of the right to vote, women were influencing social and economic institutions as well.
Given the tumultuous environment of the era, women reacted in diverse ways. In the young, self-confident Alma Leighton, Howells shows us the woman of the future. On the other hand, Howells portrays an equally self-confident but very traditional Mrs. March. The manner in which he presents these two women and their methods of dealing with situations reveals what Howells thinks about the changes occurring in the world around him. His favorable portrayal of Mrs. March clearly indicates his preference for her and what she represents. His less favorable portrayal of Alma Leighton reveals his understanding of the "modern woman," but also his discomfort with the disintegration of more traditional relationships between women and men.
Mrs. March: The Traditional Wife and Her Authority
Mrs. March has qualities that merit celebration. She supports Mr. March in his decision to make a mid-life career change from the insurance business into the literary field that best suits his interests and capabilities — even though the change means potentially less income and requires a move from Boston to New York City. Early in their marriage she established what her role should be: to handle the practical tasks she knew her husband would not perform adequately.
Howells describes her in the novel as follows:
"Mrs. March was one of those wives who exact a more rigid adherence to their ideals from their husbands than from themselves. Early in their married life she had taken charge of him in all matters which she considered practical. She did not include the business of bread-winning in these; that was an affair that might safely be left to his absent-minded, dreamy inefficiency, and she did not interfere with him there. But in such things as rehanging the pictures, deciding on a summer boarding-place, taking a seaside cottage, repapering rooms, choosing seats at the theatre, seeing what the children ate when she was not at table, shutting the cat out at night, keeping run of calls and invitations, and seeing if the furnace was dampered, he had failed her so often that she felt she could not leave him the slightest discretion in regard to a flat." (Howells, Part First, Chapter XI)
Notice the numerous responsibilities undertaken by Mrs. March in contrast to her husband, whose sole purpose is to be the breadwinner. Howells shows the importance of Mrs. March to her family and her husband, and clearly feels that many women are already in charge. Their traditional role gives them tremendous control over nearly everything — including, to some degree, their husbands' professional lives. However, Mrs. March is not one-dimensional. She holds traditional values, yet she is willing to leave the children at home in Boston while she and her husband search for housing in New York City. Occasionally dining out also represents a departure from strictly traditional expectations.
Alma Leighton: The Independent New Woman
Compare the portrait of Mrs. March to the novel's introduction of Alma Leighton:
"She was the pervading light, if not force, of the house. She was a good cook, and she managed the kitchen with the help of an Irish girl, while her mother looked after the rest of the housekeeping. But she was not systematic; she had inspiration but not discipline, and her mother mourned more over the days when Alma left the whole dinner to the Irish girl than she rejoiced in those when one of Alma's great thoughts took form in a chicken-pie of incomparable savor or in a matchless pudding." (Howells, Part Second, Chapter I)
Where Mrs. March prides herself on managing all practical tasks, Alma is unstructured and undisciplined, causing her mother heartache.
Alma's conversation with her mother — following Alma's decision to end any chance of an intimate relationship with Beaton — further illustrates her independence from convention:
"[Mrs. Leighton] 'And you certainly can't say, my dear, that he hasn't been very kind — every useful to you, in that matter.'
[Alma] 'And so I ought to have said yes out of gratitude? Thank you, mamma! I didn't know you held me so cheap.'
'You know whether I hold you cheap or not, Alma. I don't want you to cheapen yourself. I don't want you to trifle with any one. I want you to be honest with yourself.'
'Well, come now, mamma! Suppose you begin. I've been perfectly honest with myself, and I've been honest with Mr. Beaton. I don't care for him, and I've told him I didn't; so he may be supposed to know it. If he comes here after this, he'll come as a plain, unostentatious friend of the family, and it's for you to say whether he shall come in that capacity or not. I hope you won't trifle with him, and let him get the notion that he's coming on any other basis.'" (Howells, Part Fifth, Chapter I)
Alma matches her mother point for point and refuses to relent, even to parental counsel. This dialogue illustrates the challenges of the so-called modern woman as Howells sees her. In his view, traditional relationships — including the mother-daughter bond — have eroded to the point where a daughter will not consider her mother's advice. Alma thrives on conflict, while Mrs. March seeks compromise and resolution.
Works Cited
Howells, William Dean. A Hazard of New Fortunes. Aug. 2002. Produced by David Widger for The Project Gutenberg Etext. 23 Feb. 2002.
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