GENDER ROLES OF MAIN CHARACTERS IN DANIELLE STEEL’S “FRIENDS FOREVER”

Abstract

The research is devoted to the study of protagonists’ gender roles created by Danielle Steel in her book about five best friends. The corpus and discourse analyses have been applied to examine verbal characterization of main characters. Appearance, traits of character, relationships with others, moral values as well as communication styles have been studied. Gender roles have been perceived mostly as prescribed stereotypical norms of social behavior. Gender roles presented in literary works reflect social male and female portrayals but concurrently main characters’ gender portraits shape readers’ images and concepts about gender. Danielle Steel assigns traditional gender roles to her characters sketching their vivid images from childhood till later years. The female characters Izzie and Gabby correspond to traditional gender expectations about girls but still Gabby turns out to have bossy nature that is reflected in her behavior and speech. Three male protagonists, Andy, Billy and Sean, in general possessing quite traditional gender roles, are depicted as completely different personalities with some deviation from gender expectations about men. The main characters’ fathers in general represent an established social image of successful professionals, family providers, most of them being loving and supporting fathers, while the protagonists’ mothers form two contrastive groups of staying at home and working women. The portraits of two working mothers differ greatly, depicting the woman devoting all her time to work and ignoring her daughter’s needs and the other despite being busy at work still being able to take care of her son. Other three women are ideal pictures of affectionate mothers and wives.