Language and Gender- A Surgeon's Care

Throughout the extract it is clearly portrayed that the male character is the dominant sterotype. Verbs such as 'demanded' to show the control he is given over the woman when he asks 'Where on earth is Dr.Hatfield?' because of this Professor Chadwick is suggested to show power over the female character. Penny shows sterotypical gender traits throughout the text where actions such as 'Penny cleared her throat' giving a sense of her being nervous because of Professor Chadwick's actions. Therefore she shows no power or control against the Professor. Following this when Professor Chadwick says 'Well, I can certainly think up quite a few answers to that question, Dr.Hatfield' His voice had softened', by answering in a demanding tone, it automatically shows a sense of control as he begins to use romance and flirtaious comments to make Penny feel excited and confident. By the use of his tone of voice 'softening' portrays a verb that describes how a woman would speak, therefore the Professor speaks in a way which would be on Penny's level. This instantly connects the two characters together as she will not feel overpowered, but on par with the Professor. The text ends with 'not day-dreaming about her new boss' this sterotypes women in general as she portrays the female character to be day-dreaming about a man, and more importantly, about her new boss, the use of fairytale connotations allows the audience to see a clearer view of Penny's character.