The roles of women in Dublin during the 1800's were very different from the roles women have today. Women are no longer expected to complete housework or cook dinner every night. The pressures for women to be married have depleted and women are no longer expected to politely fade into the background. However this was not the case in the setting of Dubliners by James Joyce. Times were different back then and female suppression was of common ground. Joyce expresses the social repression women have endured in his work Dubliners through his negative portrayal of female characters.

Joyce uses the descriptions of his female characters to display their role in society as well as their role in his work. Many of the female characters are ascribed disgusting images or no images at all. In "The Sisters" the little boy's aunt is never given a physical description or a...