the problematics of motherhood in twentieth century women's fiction

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140 disillusionment with her traditional role as wife and mother. Drabble gives a more positive picture - the movement of her protagonist Rosamund Stacey is just the opposite of Lessing's - she moves from an lnltial scepticism and fear of motherhood to an understanding of its ]oys, which she experiences through love for her daughter, Octavla. Whlle Lessing presents her protagonist's lourney from the femlnlne to the femlnlst phase, Drabble engages herself In re- deflnlng motherhood, a motherhood mlnus men The Summer Before the Dark 1s a negative portralt of marriage, farnlly and motherhood, The Millstone presents a negatlve plcture of marrlage, but 1s optlmlstlc about motherhood: "I'm one of those Bernard Shaw women who wants children but no husband" (MS 1231 says Rosamund About marrlage, Drabble has made sceptical comments (Crelghton 1985 241, motherhood Clark "I don't know why one gets marrled" but projects a posltlve vlslon of As she puts it ln an interview to Dlana Cooper- I see motherhood In such posltlve terms that I feel almost emharassed to state rt. I thlnk lt 1s tP.e greatest joy in the world But 1: 1s also a very-personal thing I just happen to llke it And ~t's a relatlonshio that. ln fact, avolds the problems of sex. 1t's-a very pure form of lovlng, whlch sex rarely 1s .. It has a great deal to do wlth goodness and love and lack of self-lnterest (Cooper-Clark 1986 68) It is this "goodness and love and lack of self-interest' that Rosamund achleves through motherhood While Kate
141 experlences a fragmentation of self, Rosamund asserts her ldentlty through relation to others Kate feels confined to the home because of her responsrbilities towards her family and children whereas Rosamund's child teaches her to reach out to the wider c~rcle of humanity around her. Due to the circumscribed definition of motherhood that Kate is caught ln, she is not able to accomplish any role other than that of housewife, whlle Rosamund, who steers towards a more personalised motherrng, is able to successfully reconcile motherhood and career Desplte thelr contradictory movement, the cwc texts concur at one point in their call for a redefinition of motherhood Whlle Lesslng stops at portraylnq her protaqonrst's dissatisfaction with her 'femlnine' roie and the inltiatlon of her awareness about lt, Drabble moves a step further by evolvlng a new kind of motherhood In whlch the male 1s eschewed 3.10.1. Walker. Lesslng, Drabble, Laurence and Deshpande problematlze the lnstltution of motherhood Walker's new nother re]ec:s lt outrlght whlle the others question or lqnore some of lts demands While Lesslnq. Lacrence and Deshpande tread safe grounds by endlnq thelr novels on an amb~guous note, Walker's treatment 1s more revolutionary - she takes her protagonist from an insulated to a highly volatile zone whlch contains endless posslbilitles for her herolne The movement in Walker is linear - from the
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THE PROBLEMATICS OF MOTHERHOOD IN T
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POONAM MINOCHA Research Scholar Dep
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The hand that rocks the cradle does
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university. New Delhi; Pondicherry
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CEAPTER - 11 INTRODUCTIONS PROBLEMA
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manipulation of her self whereas Mr
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This chapter explores the major que
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and career, single parenting, ambiv
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INTRODUCTION : PROBLEllATICS OP XOT
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3 institution of motherhood In her
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5 aspect of the female body and 'ge
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1.2.1. The dissertation takes for ~
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9 goddess with the human mother, im
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11 example, portrays Sophie, the 'i
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harm children 13 It argues instead
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15 fourteenth-century mother and he
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17 Gold, The Ice Age and The Middle
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19 1.6.2 The two American novelists
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21 finds herself at crossroads - sh
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enmeshed in the femlnine motherhood
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25 unrecognizable as individuals" (
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from the blologlcal to the psycho-s
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narrative point of view, structure,
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3 1 By emphasizing the primacy of m
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TO bear a child, preferably a son,
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35 the moral, transf0m:ng the biolo
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37 2.2.1. Before the summer of her
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2.2.1.3. Kate trles to Inculcate in
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sexually knowledgeable woman of the
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other hand, completely convinced by
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2.2.2.4. Ira retalns some of her mo
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47 2.2.2.7. Apart from Rukmani and
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malevolence of the instltutlon itse
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for her it involves both a give and
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5 3 daughter Beloved the second tim
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'feminist' daughter. 5 5 What one s
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57 nurturing relationship Walker he
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59 far preferable to rejection or i
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lnwlcation of the ability to relate
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63 mother After a long bout of fami
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Her frail independence gave way to
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male. Rich interprets Yahweh's comm
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2.5.3. Nectar in a Sieve reiterates
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. 71 internalization of a 'code of
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73 Gilman's concept, therefore, is
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to the Church in the same way as he
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77 2.7.1. Rukmani of Nectar in a Si
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79 The mother therefore serves as b
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81 comprehends that Michael's wife
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BEKINIST MOTBEICBOOD To be a good m
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85 3.2.0. In the novels under study
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3.3.1. In Alice Walker's Meridian,
Page 105 and 106: As will be seen subsequently, symbo
Page 107 and 108: 91 that the daughter often recelves
Page 109 and 110: dentity. What Elaine Showalter says
Page 111 and 112: (1987.110) Although no resolution i
Page 113 and 114: 97 :elect it. Her obsessive remembr
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Page 119 and 120: experience and motherhood as an ins
Page 121 and 122: 105 of the double message she recei
Page 123 and 124: 107 Jaya of That Long Silence and I
Page 125 and 126: 109 saru marries Manu mainly to bre
Page 127 and 128: him on this account. Not withstandi
Page 129 and 130: 113 chat that Went on in the queue,
Page 131 and 132: 115 adaptability, but realizes that
Page 133 and 134: and behavlng well and you should an
Page 135 and 136: 119 embodiment. Kate's dilemma is s
Page 137 and 138: 121 them to be childrearers once th
Page 139 and 140: Work means getting away from home,
Page 141 and 142: 125 would probably have become some
Page 143 and 144: 127 motherhood and career only when
Page 145 and 146: 129 she does not grant =he 'father'
Page 147 and 148: 131 social construct, Gilman was wl
Page 149 and 150: out a change ln attitude towards mo
Page 151 and 152: 135 the House' and loosening the te
Page 153 and 154: 13 7 of one's Own' is essentlal to
Page 155: 139 example that comes to mind imme
Page 159 and 160: TECHNOLOGIC& MOTEERBOOD It was part
Page 161 and 162: 145 4.1.1. This brlngs us to the qu
Page 163 and 164: 147 womb, sometimes after it has be
Page 165 and 166: 149 bodies of brain-dead pregnant w
Page 167 and 168: 151 4.2.4.1. Surrogate motherhood h
Page 169 and 170: 153 vitro gestation (IVG) which inv
Page 171 and 172: 155 pregnancy necessary? Do foetuse
Page 173 and 174: 157 prosperity of then children dep
Page 175 and 176: 159 strengthen male control over fe
Page 177 and 178: 161 chlld, while advocates of techn
Page 179 and 180: clash with a woman's llved experlen
Page 181 and 182: 165 children and more a displacemen
Page 183 and 184: 167 w~th Adrienne Rich's stance tha
Page 185 and 186: 169 allowing women to place themsel
Page 187 and 188: 171 4.5.2 Mothering, In Mattapoiset
Page 189 and 190: 173 with a new consclousness" (Lane
Page 191 and 192: 175 subverts the existing stereotyp
Page 193 and 194: 177 when they learn from the men th
Page 195 and 196: 179 4.9.0. As Piercy's Wcrman on th
Page 197 and 198: 181 patrlarchal culture, we see her
Page 199 and 200: THE USTEETICS OF MOTHERHOOD . Women
Page 201 and 202: 185 sees lt, the mother's voice is
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Page 205 and 206: 189 daughter and her wrlting and wh
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191 through the flrst person narrat
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193 on Kate, uslng the omniscient n
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195 story, It is also the story of
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197 narrative of her visit to a uto
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dominated soclety. 199 In Atwood an
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201 buffalo" (NS 14) brlngs to ligh
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203 going to do, just lay there and
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205 Further, the chlldren brought u
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everyone she knew - but it had neve
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more my style" (SBD . 228) says Mau
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211 trees, fountains and flowers Th
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Quite ironically, the Commander's w
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215 5.5.3.8. The river 1s a dominan
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217 5.5.3.11. Morag of The Diviners
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separation is as easy as cutting of
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221 mixed feelings about her child.
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223 (WET:95) and "canned childLren1
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225 Piercy's Woman on the Edge of T
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227 5.5.9.6. "Maternity clothes", "
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229 warmth and shelter and at the s
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231 prompts Terry to remark that th
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deepest religious emotion, every fe
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235 In Search of Our Mothers' Garde
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237 Demeter, searching for her daug
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239 - the ways in which feminine mo
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241 6.2.0. A quick recapitulation o
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243 freedom: those with an aptitude
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considered natural, conversely ther
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247 not relieve the mother of her r
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249 androcentric society which repe
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251 The Summer Before the Dark and
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253 should orientate themselves to
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255 The Sunmar Before the Dark and
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257 semen, socially, ethically and
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259 feminine motherhood allow them
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261 for exploration, and Gloria Nay
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SELECT BIBLIOaRAPHY PRIMARY SOWRCES
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Budhos, Shirley 1987: The Theme of
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Gould, Joan 1988: Spirale : A Woman
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Mala, R. 1989: The Predicment of th
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Rumsey, Jean P. 1990: "Constructing
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Veevers, J.E. 1991: Continuity and
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