The aim of this essay is to analyse how genders are defined in Daphne du Maurier’s Frenchman’s Creek and The Loving Spirit and determine whether they follow the traditional division between masculine/male and feminine/female. The essay starts with a general analysis of the female protagonist Dona St. Columb from Frenchman’s Creek and Janet Coombe from The Loving Spirit, taking into consideration feminist criticism and traditional gender roles in order to see if the characters conform to them or not.  Both characters are shown to struggle with their “masculine” characteristics in times when the roles of men and women are rigidly defined. The essay then shows how the characters seek temporary escape from their lives to find their true identity. The conclusion is that this struggle is somehow resolved through motherhood that, instead of being a prison that suffocates their true self, becomes an occasion for these characters to find a balance between their masculine and feminine tendencies.