# How does On the Eve develop the theme of Gender Roles and Autonomy?

> On the Eve by Ivan Turgenev

## Answer

On the Eve by Ivan Turgenev develops Gender Roles and Autonomy across the chapters the companion marks for this theme.

Elena asserts her independence by choosing her own husband and leaving her family, challenging the passive, domestic role expected of women in her society, and embodying a new kind of female agency.

Anna Vassilyevna is portrayed as a passive, emotionally fragile wife who endures her husband's infidelity without direct confrontation, illustrating limited female autonomy in 19th-century Russian marriage.

Elena's independence from her parents and her yearning for a purposeful life challenge the passive feminine ideal of her time.

## Evidence

- [iii](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_the_eve_se/chapters/iii.md): Anna Vassilyevna is portrayed as a passive, emotionally fragile wife who endures her husband's infidelity without direct confrontation, illustrating limited female autonomy in 19th-century Russian marriage.
- [vi](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_the_eve_se/chapters/vi.md): Elena's independence from her parents and her yearning for a purposeful life challenge the passive feminine ideal of her time.

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