Evelyn, Mother, Emma

Ragtime has a very diverse cast of female characters, something I was surprised to encounter in an older book written by a male author, about even older times. Here, I want to focus on Evelyn Nesbit, Mother, and Emma Goldman. At first glance, each woman falls into some category of gender roles -- Evelyn as the provocative 'sex goddess,' Mother as the hardworking domestic housewife, and Emma as the radical, almost crazy feminist (I feel like plenty back then would have written her off as a 'feminazi,' in today's words). However, these ladies' stories are developed into multi-dimensional impressions of some very human, and very interesting women. They play into gender stereotypes, but their characters also fight against those stereotypes with their self-awareness that, somehow, is always tied to Emma Goldman. 

Evelyn Nesbit is certainly a character. She's at the center of countless scandals -- assault, adultery, murder, even practically prostitution (Thaw gives her something like an allowance in return for her visits to his cell). She's beautiful, commonly believed to be the picture of American femininity, and has catapulted herself from rags to riches with her looks. There's countless Evelyn Nesbits in American literature; vapid, thoughtless bimbos written by men who play both the role of a fallen woman, villainess, and damsel in distress. But this Evelyn Nesbit has found self awareness. Having been in the spotlight from a young age, and even assaulted as a girl, she's grown into a hypersexualized woman who receives her gratification from male validation. She cannot resist Younger Brother's advances because of how obsessed with her he is, and the validation she consequentially gets. Her role in society is determined by her relationships with other men; most of her fame is even rom her romantic scandals. She gets thousands of dollars by lying in court. She's a 'creature of capitalism.' Emma Goldman at once laid these truths cold and clear to Evelyn, stripping her bare both literally and figuratively, and Evelyn's self awareness also becomes awareness for the reader, that the women like Evelyn Nesbit are victims of society, forced to find meaning in their lives by sexual attractiveness and physical beauty. 

Mother is the picture of an American housewife, a mother. She doesn't even get a name -- she's just a woman whose identity is tied completely to motherhood. Her marriage is not truly a union of love, after all, she and Father seem to 'flourish in his absence.' Their sex scenes are quite possibly the saddest, unsexiest sex scenes ever written, with Mother detaching herself and carrying out an act of love as if it's a painful duty, while Father is enjoying himself. She's confined mostly to domestic duties -- that is, until Father's North Pole expedition. While he's gone, Mother spreads her wings quite a bit, becoming something of a businesswoman as she takes over the shop's executive duties in Father's stead. She discovers she's quite proficient and able to do the same things which had once seemed only her husband and other men could do. Once again, we find Emma Goldman's influence present, as Mother undergoes these changes while reading Emma Goldman. When Father comes back, their relationship is even more distant than before, and now with a sense of irreversible distance due to Mother's newfound independence. Mother exemplifies Goldman's beliefs, in a way, because she loses the constraints her marriage had once placed on her and expands her world with an independent perspective. Her role in the story as a domestic woman evolves to represent a journey of self-discovery. 

Emma Goldman herself is the only character Doctorow seems to leave alone. She gets to speak for herself, gets to say her bit without any derision from a disembodied narrator. At first, she seems like the harebrained stereotype of a radical feminist, but Ragtime depicts her as the lone sane voice amongst plenty of madness. How ironic, yet fitting that the radical seen as a crazy anarchist by society speaks the most truth, with her ability to see the 'bigger picture' of many character's lives (think Evelyn and Younger Brother), and showing them a relentless honesty that come from a place of understanding and gentleness, not blame and scorn. 

Ragtime does a good job with these women. They reflect stereotypes, yet not just that -- they reflect real women who have been forced into certain roles, and tell stories of realization and self-awareness that brings awareness to their oppression.