In the novel Regeneration by Pat Barker, the author shows how the distorting effect that engulfed British society during the First World War transformed established gender roles. The demands placed on men and women during the war were harsh and almost alien. During this first "total war", there was a seemingly radical shift in gender roles, which created friction in the relationships between women entering the workforce and men returning from the battlefield . By exploring how the roles of men and women changed as society responded to the demands of war, we begin to understand why Barker's novel effectively captures role change and the friction it created, particularly through the characters of William Prior and Sarah Lumb. War and battles were romanticized and conflicts took place on foreign lands. As a result, members outside the military, particularly people back home, had little or no involvement in the war effort. This helped create a divide between how soldiers fought and how civilians perceived their exploits, which turned into fantastic support for the war. For example, soldiers returning from the Napoleonic Wars shared their tales of victory and the glory of battle, creating romantic misconceptions about what war should be like. As the Western world entered the Great War, these fantastically naive preconceptions about the war led to unanimous support for the war effort. However, the horrors of trench warfare and severe famine on the home front did little to dispel the enthusiastic belief that the war was a just cause. All aspects of society were dedicated to promoting a sense of national identity in whatever form might support the war. Nonetheless, the excruciating demands on human life...... middle of paper ...... er, prolonged exposure to independent living in the absence of her husband left her unable to cope with the idea of ​​falling. return to the pre-war situation (110). This meant that women were unhappy with the idea of ​​returning to the oppressive role of housewives and losing their independence. The destabilizing effects of the First World War on gender roles caused a divide that transformed relations between men and women. The movement of women to the home front and men returning to the battlefield led to changes in British society even after the war. As British society was forced to adapt to these new roles, it entered an era of temporary destabilization of society which required a redefinition of the roles that men and women should play. Works Cited Baker, Pat. Regeneration. First printing Plume, 1993. Print.