The Girl in His Shadow

The restrictions that society places on Nora establish the fact that Victorian men enjoy full freedom of choice while Victorian woman are limited to only a few basic options. Nora laments society’s expectation that men and women inhabit different “spheres” and finds it imminently unfair that men like Daniel can choose a profession regardless of his family’s opinion and remain respected by society. As the various male characters in the novel demonstrate, men can enlist, go to university, travel freely, and own property; they can even remain unmarried, as Croft does. However, Nora’s lack of choice and professional prospects illustrates the fact that women in the middle and upper classes of Victorian society are expected to marry, have children, and tend their homes and families. Thus, they are denied the chance to pursue higher education. For this reason, Nora’s work must be kept secret; in fact, Henry VIII “bann[ed] women from the Company of Barber Surgeons” (54) in 1540. When Nora’s aptitude is revealed, she is censured for her socially unacceptable choices, while an unexpected opportunity in Italy reveals how few choices she really has in England.

Though Nora understands these harsh realities, she reveals her role in John Prescott’s surgery to defend the truth of Daniel’s account. When the public maligns her “morality” and criticizes her severely despite her success, the people’s reaction highlights how very deeply ingrained these prohibitive attitudes really were during this time frame. For example, Vickery refers to Nora’s actions as “parlor tricks,” diminishing her success by recasting her considerable surgical feat in the parlance of the domestic sphere—the one aspect of society in which women were expected to remain. Likewise, when the Royal College of Surgeons takes issue with Nora’s actions, they write to Croft instead of her, as though she were an erring servant or pet. Even the men who claim to love Nora limit her freedom to choose without a second thought; Croft asks Daniel what they should “do” with her, as though she were an object, and the men eventually decide that she is “not allowed” to remain in London while the controversy still rages. Despite her competence to manage her own affairs, Daniel and Croft do what they think is best for her, but her contemptuous reaction highlights how infantilizing it is to be excluded from their decision. Their dismissal of her therefore mirrors that of the Royal College of Surgeons, Vickery, and the rest of London society.

When Perra offers Nora the chance to study at the University of Bologna, he acknowledges that “she is denied all real opportunity” (331) in England, where she lacks freedom of choice. As he tells Croft, “One always has the opportunity to know, […] but what good is knowing […] if one is not allowed to act?” (331). Anyone can learn, but Perra suggests that this knowledge is nothing if one cannot choose to use it. He recognizes that Nora’s choices are circumscribed by English convention, and Nora eventually prevails on Croft and Daniel to recognize this too. When she insists on Italy, Daniel hates that he has “no say” in her decision, and his outrage strikes an ironic tone as he is forced to recognize the frustration of having no control over a decision that will drastically affect his life. Likewise, when Croft tells Nora she cannot go, she asks, “Am I a prisoner?” (347), highlighting her constraints and implying that if he withholds permission and the necessary funds, she is essentially held captive by his choices. Her persuasive arguments and Daniel’s realization that she has “few options of any kind” (349) convince Croft not to deny her the opportunity to travel to Italy, but the fact remains that his permission is still a prerequisite of her ability to pursue her own interests.