the problematics of motherhood in twentieth century women's fiction

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to Kate, the latter later takes her as her role-model. At
one time Kate had thought herself better than Mary -- more
sensitive, responsible, and having finer feelings, but
circumstances change her perspective later.
3.4.5.4. From Mary Flnchley's example and from her own
experience at Global Foods, Kate learns that an important
turn towards self-expression lles In the area of cholce --
when women choose for themselves they establish an identlty
of then own. For Kate, her dress and halr style become an
expression of her ~dentlty Earlier, she could wear only
what sulted her posltion as wife of her husband and mother
of her chlldren, curbing her innermost tastes zn order to
avold thelr disapproval Inltlally, she 1s unable to fathom
how Mary Finchley dressed as if "she were unmarried and had
no chlldren" (SBD 111 After her stlnt as translator at
Slobal Foods, Kate literally too stops taklng the same old
dresses off the rack -- she buys herself new dresses, not
different from what she usually wears, but effects a change
ln the manner of wearing them
3.4.5.5. In her transltlonal stage, Kate, llke Morag of The
Diviners, beglns to experlecce an in-between sltuatlon
whereln she is not able to belong elther to the 'femlnlne'
group represented by the numerous mothers she comes across,
or to the 'feminist', of which Mary Finchley is an