the problematics of motherhood in twentieth century women's fiction

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values, she does not want to fit into the feminine mould of
a mother and have children, but at the same time feels that
she will be denying herself something, rellnqurshing one
part of her identity as a woman
She envies glrls who
easlly sllp lnto the roles of wife and mother and lead a
'happy' existence
Morag's
I envy glrls llke Susan Trevor so much that I damn
near hate them. I want to be glamorous and adored
and get marrled and have klds
myself that I don't want that
I st111 try to kld
But I do I want
all that. As well All I want is everythlng
(D 182).
deslre to have "everythlng" stems from her
frustration at not belng able to combme marrlage /
motherhood and independence even at the hypothetical level
Throughout the novel, Morag vacillates between the feminlne
and femlnlst -- she is unable to flt Into the femlnlne mould
represented by Brldle, who belleves in large families and
whose chief interest in llfe 1s to have children, nor does
she belong to the other extreme typzfied by Fan Brady who 1s
not the "maternal type" ID
abortions.
310) and who has had flve
3.4.3.2. The maternal lnstlnct however seems to suddenly
have sprouted ln her after her marrlage to Brooke Skelton
Morag's yearning to have a chzld becomes almost a nagging
obsession, all the more so because of Brooke's refxsal to
have one
He glves her evaslve answers whenever she pleads