Unempowered Women in The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz Santina Conte College

As American radical feminist, scholar, lawyer and activist Catharine MacKinnon once said, “Women and men are divided by gender, made into the sexes as we know them, by the social requirements of heterosexuality, which institutionalizes male sexual dominance and female sexual submission” (WikiQuote). The concepts of male dominance and female submission, as well as female rejection, are omnipresent throughout Mordecai Richler’s The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, a novel in which women are regarded as inferior beings subject to male power. This story suggests that whether a woman submits to or rejects patriarchal expectations, she nevertheless lacks empowerment. This notion is exemplified through Duddy Kravitz’s female characters’ relationships with men, namely Yvette Durelle, Aunt Ida and Linda Rubin.

Yvette Durelle’s evolving relationship with big time operator Duddy Kravitz demonstrates how a female lacks empowerment whether she complies with or dismisses the patriarchy. In fact, Yvette is initially obedient to Duddy and does whatever it takes to help him achieve his goal of attaining the land, regardless of what the outcome is for her. She unquestioningly signs the deeds to his land in her name because “the farmers would be...