the problematics of motherhood in twentieth century women's fiction

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How could anyone know what being a mother means who has never carried a child nine months heavy under her heart, who has never borne a baby in blood and paln, who has never suckled a child, who got that chlld out of a machine the way that couple, white and rich, got my flesh and blood. All made up already, a canned chlld, just add money What do they know of motherhood? (WET.99) To Connie tlll then, only a genetlc bond is capable of sustaining an Ideal parent-chlld relationship 4.3.2.2. Connle's inltlal scepticism regarding reproductive technology vanlshes as she beglns to compare the merlts of artlflclal reproductlon with the llmltatlons of natural, biological reproduction Technological reproductlon In Mattapolsett prevents motherlng from belng a llfe-tlrne lob, therefore not demanding too m~ch of a person's tlme and energy Further, motherhood 1s not a compulsron only those w~th an aptltude for ~ t those , confident of motherlng well, take rt up The people of Mattapolsett, moreover, rear a c?-ild upto a certaln phase and leave her/hlm free after the 'end-of-mothering" stage (WET 107) as they belleve that a chlld sometlmes has to do wlthout mothers As opposed to blologlcal parenthood, technologlcal reproductlon ensures that the responslblllty of bearrng and rearlng a chlld does not fall on the mother alone 4.3.3. TO Atwood, on the other hand, technologlcal alternatives obstruct women's ernanclpation as they further
159 strengthen male control over female biology. She regards surrogate motherhood as degrading and demeaning women's status ln society The divislon of female functions results in rlpping the Identity of women into fragments ~twood 1s caustlc towards the entire business of reproduction in Gllead The Commander, who feels that he 1s dolng women a great favour by letting them "fulfil therr bloloqical destlnies In peace" (HT 2191, stands for male-controlled reproductlve technology, responsible for reduclng women ts thelr reproductlve roles By givlng blrth, the women have to repay ttelr food and keep, "like a queer. ant wlth eggs" (HT 135) Of the Commander, Offred sarcastlcally remarks "When the Lord said be fruitful and multlgly, dld he mean thls man'" (HT 218) The Handmaids In Gllead are lust reproductrve prostitutes, what reproductlve Eechnology 3-uphemistically terns surrogate mothers, valued only for their vlable ovarles, and exploited by the economically prlvlleged 4.3.3.1. In a deliberately lronlcal vein, The Handmaid's Tale reverberates wlth Blbllcal echoes The Gileadean reglme legltlmlzes and enforces surrogate motherhood as 1t was considered to have Biblical precedents The Gileadean system of reproduction operates with Blbllcal sanction as Slmultanaeous polygamy was practiced in early Old Testament
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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,
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As will be seen subsequently, symbo
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91 that the daughter often recelves
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dentity. What Elaine Showalter says
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(1987.110) Although no resolution i
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97 :elect it. Her obsessive remembr
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core: "Daughter? I don't have any d
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OD she forms with her daughters. Be
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experience and motherhood as an ins
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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 and 156: 139 example that comes to mind imme
Page 157 and 158: 141 experlences a fragmentation of
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: 157 prosperity of then children dep
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
Page 207 and 208: 191 through the flrst person narrat
Page 209 and 210: 193 on Kate, uslng the omniscient n
Page 211 and 212: 195 story, It is also the story of
Page 213 and 214: 197 narrative of her visit to a uto
Page 215 and 216: dominated soclety. 199 In Atwood an
Page 217 and 218: 201 buffalo" (NS 14) brlngs to ligh
Page 219 and 220: 203 going to do, just lay there and
Page 221 and 222: 205 Further, the chlldren brought u
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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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