How does The Rise of Silas Lapham develop the theme of Gender Roles and Women's Place?

The Rise of Silas Lapham by William Dean Howells develops Gender Roles and Women's Place across the chapters the companion marks for this theme.

The novel portrays women's limited roles—as wives, mothers, and objects of courtship—while characters like Penelope and Mrs. Lapham demonstrate intelligence and moral agency within those constraints.

Mrs. Lapham's exclusion from her husband's business and her reaction to the female clerk illustrate the era's gendered expectations and anxieties.