The ambivalence that Aurora feels towards women is evident from the beginning of the book. Barbara Gelpi points to the lack of attractive female characters in the novel besides Aurora.
Mothers are cold, self-centered, and destructive.
Marian Erle's own mother is beaten by her father, and Marian, in turn, is beaten by her mother. However strongly one may feel that Aurora Leigh is a feminist text, questions of class undercut feminist views concerning the woman artist in a commercial market. Both Aurora and Lady Waldemar support themselves. Lady Waldemar has her own fortune while Aurora earns her living through her writing, but neither one could be said to represent the great majority of the Victorian women. Gender and Pip's Fantasy of Social Advancement Questions of Feminism in Aurora Leigh Women and Social Status in and Great Expectations Conflicts of the Woman Poet in Aurora Leigh References David, Deirdre.