The Gendered Context of Crime: Sentencing Women in the Victorian Era
The court scenes in Margaret Atwood’s novel Alias Grace provide a glimpse into the Canadian court system of the time, and
the way women were treated in criminal cases during the Victorian era. As the novel progresses, Grace reveals to Doctor Jordan what she recalls of the murder of Nancy Montgomery and Thomas Kinnear, and her time in court that followed shortly afterwards. Through Atwood’s depiction of Grace’s trial and the excerpts from existing records regarding Grace that are included in the novel, we are shown an accurate depiction of the treatment received by violent female criminals during the Victorian era.
It is often thought that female criminals during the Victorian era were deemed “doubly deviant” and were sentenced more harshly than male criminals (Godfrey 696). According to a study performed by The British Journal of Criminology on gendered sentencing patterns in the Victorian era, women were actually more likely to be dismissed from court or given a lighter sentence than men, particularly when they committed offences considered more ‘feminine’ (706, 711).
Gendered context was important when analyzing offences during this time period (706). Masculinity was often associated with violence, and women who conformed to traditional gender roles and displayed remorse were treated more leniently (714-15). This ties directly to how Grace was viewed during her trial, as such a violent crime as murder would be viewed in a masculine context, and she had appeared in court wearing Nancy Montgomery’s dress, ribbons, tippet, and parasol (Atwood 436). By making the mistake of wearing the victim’s clothing, Grace had made herself appear unremorseful, solidifying her in the eyes of the courtroom as guilty (437).
Grace’s mental state is referenced throughout Alias Grace, especially in the excerpts from the works of Susanna Moodie, in which she describes Grace as being “lighted up with the fire of insanity” (Atwood 53). According to an article discussing the topics of Irish migration and female criminals in the Victorian era, the growing field of psychiatry during the time perpetuated gender biases, describing women as “particularly vulnerable to mental weakness and illness” (“How Irish migration”). Grace’s young age and the belief that she was not mentally sound may have been what saved her from the death penalty, as her lawyer Mr. MacKenzie and supporting parties argued that Grace was “little more than a child” and “little better than a half-wit” (Atwood 437).
Overall, Margaret Atwood’s novel Alias Grace provides an accurate portrayal of how Victorian court systems treated violent female criminals. Through Grace’s accounts of the murder and her trial, the novel explores views on the minds of female criminals and the gendered context of crimes during this time period.
Works Cited
Atwood, Margaret. Alias Grace. McClelland & Stewart, 1996.
Godfrey, Barry S., et al. “Explaining Gendered Sentencing Patterns For Violent Men and Women in the Late-Victorian and Edwardian Period.” The British Journal of Criminology, vol. 45, no. 5, 2005, pp. 696–720. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23639215. Accessed 8 Apr. 2023.
“How Irish migration and the female criminal mind were viewed in the Victorian era”. Global English (Middle East and North Africa Financial Network), July 31, 2018 Tuesday. advance.lexis.com/api/document?collection=news&id=urn:contentItem:5SXM-0HR1-JCNX-340G-00000-00&context=1516831. Accessed April 8, 2023.
