Familial realationships in our current society are varied and complicated. “The Domestic Cantata” explores the ideologies inherent in traditional family structures, where the father has been constructed as dominant and tyrannical and the mother as the submissive peacekeeper. Through his use of characterization, style and structure David Malouf explores the contrasting relationships within families, positioning the reader to respond negatively towards the actions and behaviours of the father, and sympathetically towards the wife and children.

David Malouf, through his use of characterization, has constructed the father, Sam, as a petulant, demanding man who values his own needs over those of his wife. Sam, through his inaction, contributes to the extra workload of his wife, thus making her life more difficult and complicated and consequently I am forced to reject his behaviour as a husband. When he knocks over his son’s bike, rather thatn simply poick it up himself, he throws a tantrum and expects his wife to pick up after him. “She readhed down and hoisted the bike upright,”. While he complains about the ‘chaos’ and ‘clutter’, he is content to contribute to it and have someone else clean up after him, raterh thatn be responsible fo his own actions, a value that mst peple are taught in their youth. As a result of this his actions seem quite childish and Maslouf paints the picture of a man who is spoiled and used to getting his own way, conforming to tradional notions of masculinity, where the father was the head of the home and used to getting his own way.

This construction is further supported through Sam’s relationship with his children. Malouf’s use of description and style serves to further reinforce this point. The father is constructed as autocratic and demanding, and adversely impacts on the palyfullness of his children. As father’s are supposd