This essay examines the Alberte triology, by the Norwegian writer Cora Sandel, from a gender/feminist perspective. Taking Yvonne Hirdman's theory about the gender system as a starting point I will show how the living conditions and the different roles of men and women are represented in the novel and how they are changing during the centuries before and after the First World War.

I am particularly interested in Alberte, the main character, what attitude she takes to her position in the gender system and in what way she differs from the traditional female model. Is she a New Woman, a different ”species”, who doesn't fit into the rigid gender system? Does the New Woman have a male counterpart, and is he to be found in the novel? Does the novel give a positive vision of a future where men and women can meet as equals?