This reveals the essential hypocrisy in Mrs. Markham’s argument that Helen is in danger of turning her son into a “mere Nancy” through over-indulgence. Mrs. Markham indulges Gilbert completely, and believes that men are made for such treatment. As a result, Gilbert himself has not had a real acquaintance with any true hardship. Furthermore, Mrs. Markham’s doctrine that women should please their husbands while husbands should please themselves assumes that women have no value outside of their powers to make men happy.