the problematics of motherhood in twentieth century women's fiction

(SBD : 195).
Experiencing a tug - of - war between her
feminine and feminist selves, Maureen's desire for emotional
and economic security through marriage conflicts with her
need to live an independent life. She tells Kate. "You're
already through rt, you've done lt, for better or worse, but
I have to declde whether to do it or not" (SBD : 218).
Llke
Ellem, Maureen represents "the daughter of the seventies
who repeats her mother's llfe wlthout the mother's bellef
System" (Andrews 1986 . 150)
3 . 3 .3.1 When Kate has tested her hypothesis of the
relatlonshlp betxeen appearance and reallty, she leaves
Maureen, her surrogate-daughter and younger mlrrcr-lmage.
As Shlrley Budhos polnts out
Maureen now represents the Kate Brown of the past
Kate, llke Demeter In one of her dlsgulses, moves
through the "seasons" of her llfe, harvestlno and
reaplng self-knowledge after undergoing trlals
whlle Maureen must now spend her season "servng"
In the narltal enclosure Kate has passed through
the "myster:esU, admlts that she is an old woman,
and returns t3 her brown "earth", her famzly home
(1987 181
3.3.3.2 An open-endedness characterises thls motherdaughter
relatlonshlp In Lesslng's novels, Clalre Sprague
states, the relationship between mother and daughter is
never resolved, "unless we wish to call it resolution when
mothers or daughters develop temporary worklng relationships
wlth surrogate, non-biological daughters or mothers"