Betty as the product which resulted from Clive’s work
In the first Act, Clive presents the members of his family, one by one, starting with his wife, Betty. The first thing Clive mentions above Betty is the line "And everything she is she owes to me.’’ This is a patronizing way to refer to his wife, presenting her as being a worthless person who had no value before he came into her life. The image thus portrayed here is that of women who have little to no value when they are not accompanied by a man.
Do not let Edward near the doll
When the children entered the room after Clive came home, the governess came with Victoria while Edward was carrying his sister’s doll. Upon seeing the boy with the doll, Clive became angry, yelling at his boy to drop it and never carry it again. The image of Edward carrying the doll goes against what Clive thought about masculinity and the worth of a boy. Because of this, he panics when he sees his boy, the one who should become like him, behave in a way considered by him as being unnatural.
The African tribes
During a conversation between Harry and Betty, Harry tells Betty about the time he spent with an African tribe in the jungle. Harry described their way of life and the multiple skulls they had around the camp. This image frightens Betty whose ideas about the Africans are already influenced by her husband, pictures the Africans as being savages, dangerous people who can’t be trusted and who will never change their ways.
Men have no feelings
During a game of ball, Edward gets upset when his father refuses to play anymore and stop the game. Betty tells Clive to behave with a little more compassion towards their son, telling him that Edward will get his feelings hurt if his father does not do this. Upon hearing this, Clive insists that a man must have no feelings of they want to be real men. Taking this into consideration, we can reach the conclusion that Clive portrayed the perfect man managing to keep himself separated from everything that has to do with sentimental matters.
