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As most of the novel is set in New South Wales, it is important to examine womanhood in that region. Although I have already analyzed Sal's body, duties, and power in London, these dramatically shift with her new environment. Further, the readers are introduced to another settler colonist woman character: Mrs. Herring.
Mrs. Herring is in a unique role as a widow who lives by herself on the Hawkesbury River. Outspoken and independent, she is not bound by some of the conventional restraints that typical settler colonist women face. Also significant about Mrs. Herring is that she is more sympathetic and respectful of the Aboriginal people than almost any other character.
Bodies
In their new life in Sydney and on the Hawkesbury River, Sal's body is still seen as desirable by Will. However, it's main 'use' is now to bear and feed children rather than just a source of pleasure for the man. Sal still maintains her desire for intimacy, though, and it is interesting to see this still be a desire for her as she ages since mainstream literature tends not to portray women's sexuality and intimacy past youth.
In these respects, Mrs. Herring's relationship with her body can be interpreted as almost an exact foil to Sal. She does not need to be concerned with whether or not her body is desirable by a man, can bear children, and can fulfill her own intimate needs. Instead, Mrs. Herring's body and beauty are rarely mentioned. They are not fundamental aspects of her character, and I think she would be okay with that.
Duties
Being a settler colonist signals a shift in duties for the women characters. Before moving to the river, Sal manages a successful grog-shop (Grenville 92). And once on the Hawkesbury, she completes 'household' chores, takes care of the children, but also gets the chance to host neighbors and participate in a larger community than at 'home' in London (Grenville 167). Sal is also in charge of 'dealing' with the Aboriginal people, managing their two new servants (Grenville 208). Her duties are still limited however; Sal does not work in the field, and when her husband is gone for long periods of time, her oldest son Willie is in charge of the family's protection. Finally, Sal stays religious even though there are no churches around.
It is a little unclear what Mrs. Herring's duties are. After doing enough on her plot of land to support herself, she is freed from the wife and mother responsibilities that Sal has. However, it is clear that she regards herself and her peers as having a duty to respect the Aboriginal people and their land, and she is willing to criticize and call out her fellow settler colonists when she doesn't think they are playing their part (Grenville 172).
Power
The move to the New South Wales settlement ushers in new power for Sal. As the wife of a convict, her husband literally belongs to her, inverting gender roles (Romero-Ruiz 152). This was common for wives of convicts at the time (Cruickshank 4). Sal doesn't mistreat her husband, but she potentially could if she wanted to, which is a drastic switch from her subservience in London society. Yet when Sal goes to the Hawkesbury River, she quickly loses almost all her power. Cut off from society, she is reliant on what she hears from Will of the outside world just as her upward mobility is entirely dependent on him (Dimri 189). And although she arguable gains the most authority when she is a wealthy housewife in charge of many servants at the end of the novel, her autonomy is almost non-existent (Grenville 328). William, her sons, and the other settler colonist men hide dark details about their interactions with the Aboriginal people from her (Grenville 339). She also loses some of her influence over Will, as she is not able to convince him to go back to London even after years of pressure and almost dying (Grenville 191).
In her independent state, Mrs. Herring exhibits much more power than Sal. Free from the bonds of social structures and pressures, she can speak her mind to the men colonists and while they can disagree, they cannot punish her (Grenville 267). Further, Mrs. Herring has the autonomy and the authority to run her plot of land how she wants and to interact with the Aboriginal people how she likes.
Significance
Grenville may be making multiple assertions through the experiences of her settler colonists woman characters. She compares Sal and Mrs. Herring in Australia to women in other contexts to reflect on where power originates for women at this time. For some women, such as the Slippers Lady and eventually Sal in the Hawkesbury settlement, power is tied to wealth. For the Slippers Lady particularly, it is tied to beauty. For other women like Mrs. Herring, power comes from independence and from not being dominated by a husband, son, or father.
Maybe most telling of all is the fact that despite their economic struggles, constant labor, and isolation, Sal still views settler colonist women like herself and Mrs. Herring as being more powerful than Aboriginal women (Grenville 206). Her perception of her own status in relation to their own is a direct product of her background, culture, and beliefs regarding women's bodies, duties, etc. Since the Aboriginal women have relationships with these ideas that are different than what Sal is used to, she perceives their powerful/lessness differently. In this way, Grenville arguable sets up her settler colonist women characters to be contrasted with the Aboriginal women ones.
Image: Woman feeding geese in the Albert River District. Photo taken in 1872 by D. Byrne, a traveling photographer in colonial Queensland.
Link: https://postimg.cc/pm3sjYR7