heir daughter. He himself has few feelings for either of them as well, but he is not seeking solace so much in possessions but rather in trying to assert his own identity in a world that has placed him in a cubicle marked "father," "husband," and "breadwinner." He believes he has no other purpose that to fill these roles, and they are truly roles, meaning that he is expected to behave in a certain way and not to deviate from the social script.
Carolyn Burnham is having much the same experience from the female point of view, but her crisis is somewhat different. She has adapted to the social role as far as dutiful wife, at least in appearance, but she also yearns for success in some endeavor outside the home, which is why she has pursued real estate and wants so much to excel at that profession. She looks up to Buddy Kane first because he is successful, and she sees herself as a failure who could learn from him and so become a success as well. This develops rapidly into a sexual liaison as well, though she continues to see herself as a good wife.
The daughter, Jane, is shaped by the lack of real family life in her home. She turns to her beautiful friend, Angela, for support. She sees Angela as much more experienced because this is the aura that Angela projects, though in fact it is largely an image and not a reality.
The position of the wife in this family is not unlike what Mary Wollstonecraft said of the women of her time, showing in fact that less
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