the problematics of motherhood in twentieth century women's fiction

13 7
of one's Own' is essentlal to self-expression and
e
realization of the female will According to her, a woman
must have the tlme and opportunlty to explore the sense of
self behind the soclal facades, even if that sense of self
1s not socially acceptable and requires an excursion into
madness or involves hostile and antl-social attitudes
Particularly at middle-age, she must find an independent
room and spend some time discovering who she really is
3.8.3. As for Jaya, the protagonist of Deshpande's That
Long Silence, for Saru of The Dark Holds No Terrors too, a
change in external environment stimulates, llke a catalyst,
a psychological lntrospectlon A ratlonal exploration of
her role as wlfe and mother begins only when she leaves her
husband and chlldren and arrlves at her father's house where
she probes lnto her past and takes stock of her llfe as a
daughter, wxfe and mother. The change in atmosphere enables
her to excavate her real self whlch had till then lam
burled in these roles
3.8.4. Drabble, Walker and Laurence's protagonists follow
the same pattern In Drabble's The Millstone. Rosamund
enjoys belng an independent single mother because of the
freedom she possesses In an independent flat, free from
societal and familial pressures In Meridian, Meridian
ceases being the angel in the house, first when she leaves