the problematics of motherhood in twentieth century women's fiction

2.2.1.3. Kate trles to Inculcate in herself the values
essential for a 'model mother' though she beglns to
lncreaslngiy feel the burden of motherhood wrth the b~rth of
every subsequent chlld
Her flrst chlld does not create any
sharp change In her lifestyle, but she beglns to experlence
the pressures of motherhood wlth the blrth of her second,
thlrd and fourth chlldren
With mountlng dlfflcultres, she
tries to flt Into the mould of the femlnlne mother and
remaln there
Wlth three small chlldren, and then four, she had
to f:aht for aualltles that had not been even In
her vocabularj Patience, self-dlsclpllne, self -
control, self-abnegation chastlty Adaptability
to others -- this above all This always (SBD 89)
As In Lesslng's The Golden Notebook, here too, the mother-
chlld tension manifests ltseif -- the mother 1s depxcted as
self-effacing, lovlng and generous whlle the ch~ld 1s
Jsualiy selflsh, callous and demanding
In The Sunnner
Before the Dark, Kate reallzes the futlllty of her
'sacrlf~ce' when Tlm bursts out that she 1s suffocating hlm,
'mother' becomes the scapegoat of her children's complaints,
a "sponge" (SBD 89) for all thelr needs, regardless of
hers
She beglns to experlence a schlzophrenla, a
Eragmentatlon of identity, a dlvlslon of self, as a
consequence of conforming to the feminlne ldeal of
motherhood