Gender
The drover's wife is a nuanced and complex figure, neither fully conforming to nor fully deviating from from late 19th century Western gender roles and expectations. On the one hand, she is the ultimate mother, putting her children's needs before her own and doing all she can to ensure their survival. She likes fashion and dressing up for the purpose of being seen, even when there is no one to see her. On the other hand, she is strong and independent, fighting all the fights that come her way without wavering. She is no damsel in distress, no nagging wife; she seems to be much stronger than her "careless" husband, and someone who can take on the various threats encountered in the bush.
Man vs. Nature
Nature is a true beast in this tale. The bush throws fires, floods, poisonous animals, storms, and droughts at the people of the bush; life sometimes seems to be merely survival. Nature is depicted as powerful and capricious, and utterly indifferent to the men and women who seek to inhabit her landscapes. Man must match strength and wits with Nature to continue to live, which is exactly what the drover's wife does. She fights one thing after the other because it is simply what must be done. Sometimes she wins, sometimes she loses. If Nature were able to judge her, it would be fair to say she would be impressed by this quiet but doughty woman.
Fate
Fate, or God, or any other larger-than-mortal-life force seems absent from this text. There is the bush and nothing else. Man toils and ekes out an existence in the bush in the midst of ultimate indifference. Nature, the real force of the story, cares not for plowed land, good cows, children, or fields of crops. Working hard and being a good person does not translate into material success. There is no real "fate"; for the characters in this world, the only choice to to be realistic and adapt to life as it is.
Resignation and Acceptance
One of the most conspicuous traits of the drover's wife is her resignation to and acceptance of the life she has. She may occasionally dream of fashion photographs and of the things she once had, but she never complains or wishes things were different. She knows that this is her life and that if she does not work with what she is given, she will actually perish. There is no room for wavering or weakness in the bush, and whether or not this trait of resignation was inherent in the drover's wife or developed in response to her rural surroundings, it is clear that she has embraced it and that it is what gives her and her family life.
