the problematics of motherhood in twentieth century women's fiction

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trees, fountains and flowers These Images expand as their
slgnlficance is made more explzclt 'Here was Mother Earth,
bearlng frult. All that they ate was the frult of
motherhood, from seed or egg or their product" (H 591 The
leader of the Herlanders 1s called 'Land- other' (H 751, the
land or earth again symbollslng fertility Garden imagery
pervades the book --- the gardens of Herland are, llke thelr
motherhood, perfect, cultivated, beautiful, clean, pleasant
and ordered Terry xmaglnes the Herlanders as "a rosebud
garden of gxrls" iH 881 Kumkum Sangarl sees the pastoral
Image as slgnlfylng the ~nterdependence of wo(man1 and
nature, and the garden country as "an Image of arrlstlc
control which affrrms the Innate ablllty of women"
11983 101
5.5.3.2. Rukmanl In Markandaya's Nectar in a Sieve 1s
gerpetually associated wlth symbols cf fertlllty --- wlth
green f~elds. gram, sunshlne and beauty (NS 71
husband Nathan harrests hls f:eld,
Whlle her
Rukmanl does her blt by
plantlng fr'llts and vegetables In a small patch behlnd her
hut and watch1r.g them rlpen
I had planted, in the flat patch of ground behlnd
the
-
hur a few ~ um~kin seeds The sol1 here was
L .
rlch, never havlng ylelded before, and loose so
that lt d:d not requlre much dlgglng The seeds
sprouted qu~ckly, sendlng up dellcate green shoots
that I kept carefully watered, going several tlmes
to the will nearby -for the purpose Soon they
were not dellcate but sprawling v~gorously over
the earth and pumpklns began to form, whlch,