Margaret Atwood's novel Alias ​​Grace, nominated for the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel, describes a young 16-year-old girl who is found guilty of having killed his employer and his mistress in conspiracy with James McDerrmott. James McDermott is put to death by hanging, but Grace is taken to prison because she is of the "weaker sex". This is a reflection of the mid-to-late 19th century construction of femininity and masculinity. A social issue of the Victorian age was that women were treated as subordinate to men. Queen Victoria states: “Victorian gender ideology was based on the belief that women were both physically and intellectually the inferior sex” (YILDIRIM). Women were considered highly susceptible to becoming mentally ill due to this belief. Women were subject to being “housewives” only. The novel, Alias ​​Grace, carefully shows the construction of this gender identity through society, sexuality, and emotions, challenging it through Grace's mother and Mrs. Humphrey. Society shows the stereotypical way of thinking of the Victorian era: women are subordinate to men. This can be seen through Mary Whitney. Mary Whitney tells Grace what her goals should be and how she should act: “In this country it was customary for young girls to take it upon themselves to earn money for their dowry, and then to marry, and if their husbands proposed that they would soon hired their own servants in turn and then they "would be masters of a neat and independent farm" (Atwood 182). Mary Whitney is explaining to Grace that a woman must marry to be successful. This was the gender construction of the time and she is trying to convince Grace to take on that role. This is very true to what is reported in the middle of the document through Grace's mother and Mrs. Humphrey. The novel depicts this construct of gender identity through society by shaping Grace to believe that women are subordinate and must marry and be good housewives to be successful. This construct is seen through emotion as emotional women are seen as “abnormal” and sent to an asylum, while men were empowered to do so. The social construct of gender identity was seen as meaning that men were expected to revel in their sexuality and be assertive, while women were expected to be passive and suppress their sexuality. Ms. Humphrey challenged this construct as she was assertive and instigative. Finally, the social construct of gender identity was challenged by Grace's mother when she took on the male position of provider. Overall, women were considered subordinate to men in the Victorian age, and Atwood challenged this belief.