the problematics of motherhood in twentieth century women's fiction

20
conventionally defined and lrmlted roles Gllman's views
were much more vehemently vorced years later by the radlcal
femlnlst Marge Plercy who believed that the patriarchal
system cannot be reformed, only overturned Plercy asserted
that male power was at the root of the soclal construction
of gender She attacks men's control over women's role as
chlld bearers and childrearers In W m n on the Edge of Time
Her novel Vida evokes the turmolls of the years whlch P~ercy
experienced as one of the organizers of the 'Students for A
Democratic Socrety' Her Braaded Lives is called a
'narrative of surv~val' rather than a blldungsrornan because
the herolne does not succeed, but merely survlves In Small
Changes, she lmaglnes an alternative world ln whlck the
power pol~tlcs of sexual relationships are replaced sy a
concern for each person as an lndlvldual and a respecz for
nutual needs Flercy's formulation of the fernlnlst przblem
acqulres valldlty through her recognltlon of the need for
rerolutronaly change In soclety and through her careful
attention to the detalls of the Intricate relatlor-ship
between sexuality and cultural role playlng
1.7.0. Mov~ng over to the Indlan scene, lt 1s observed
that the old order does not easily yleld to the new, ant the
Indlan mother flnds herself caught ~nextrlcably beryeen
tradltlon and modernity Restricted both blologlcally and
culturally, the Indlan woman's predicament 1s such that she