The Murder of Helen Jewett, written by Patricia Cline Cohen, centers around a girl named Dorcas Doyan. Her mother died when she was a child, her father who was an alcoholic died later on after that. Orphaned at an early age she was adopted by a well-known judge named chief justice Nathan Weston. She was a servant for the family but in return got provided a good home and good education. She was said to have developed sexual assertiveness and was rumored to be in an affair with a banker that led to her being whipped from her innocence and purity. When she was 18 years of age, Dorcas moved out and began working as a prostitute in Portland, Maine, then her trade took her to Boston and finally New York where she was murdered, (Cohen 37). Upon the discovery of her body, investigators focused on her long time client Richard P Robinson who went as Frank Rivers when visiting prostitutes such as Helen Jewett. Around the 19th century, women had a lost of restraints on what they could and could not do, or what was seen acceptable and what was not. There were very limited opportunities given to men compared to women. Women were expected to be pious and take part in religious ceremonies. This was said to prevent them from conducting any inappropriate acts and bring pleasure to their minds. Piety was also recommended for men but not as strongly as for women (Cohen 79). This begins off the assertion of how a man during this time has power and authority. Throughout Jewett's life, a men's word counted more and was highly valued compare to a woman's. A woman would be looked down upon when conducting the same bad behavior that a man would have. Male privilege shaped Jewett's life when she was living and it still shaped her life after she died. There are three scenes where male privilege is recognized in this book. One is how females who committed adultery were treated compared to how males who committed adultery were treated. Second is, the unequal opportunities for work and education placed upon the two genders. Finally the third is the unfair legal system that made sure males of the higher respectable social status were not punished as harshly as they should have been when they committed a crime. To continue, women were expected to get married at a young age and serve their husbands for the rest of their life. Women also were expected to be "pure  or not fall into the temptations of preforming a sexual act. This is most likely the reason why prostitutes such as Jewett were looked down upon once they were no longer pure (Cohen 56). According to Cohen, women were expected to be p