Representation of Gender in 'Our Friends in the North'

How Does Mary Change & How Does This Represent The Wider Context?

Within this scene of ‘Our Friends in the North’, in contrast to the previous scene, Mary changes in a number of ways. First of all, she appears to have much more of an opinion, and state it to Tosca with much more confidence in comparison to the first scene we were shown. In the first scene she was illustrated as being a very typical, passive 1950’s style housewife who is inferior to her husband and is not allowed to voice her opinion, whereas in this scene she appears much more independent and not afraid to say what she thinks. Another example of her independence is the fact that she is studying for academic qualifications, which previously would have been unheard of from a wife.
I think that this is also a good representation of the wider context of all women of this period as well as just Mary. In the previous scene, the women of that time would have all been very similar to Mary, in the sense that they would have probably been a housewife, staying at home looking after the children, cooking and cleaning, as if a possession of their husbands, the apparently more dominant figure. In comparison, the women of the time in this second scene would have almost certainly all be beginning to become more independent and would have been challenging their old-fashioned, stereotypical, sexist views of their gender by voicing their opinion more, and deciding to get themselves a job of equivalent status to their male counterparts, or even a proper education and qualifications such as Mary, despite the views of their husbands.