the problematics of motherhood in twentieth century women's fiction

73
Gilman's concept, therefore, is a reworking, not a rejection
of Christianity.
2.6.0. Society's way of institutionalizing motherhood
breeds gullt into the very fabric of a woman's character
Women work hard to achleve the virtues prescribed for them
as women, and, if they fail they feel terribly guilty of not
llvrng up to the standards of motherhood. Psychoanalytic
thlnk~ng blames the mother for anything that goes wrong zn
the famlly Her very character is called Into questlon I£
she 'falls' her chlldren The physlcal and psychic welght
of responsibility is the heaviest of social burdens on her,
though it 1s a powerless responsibllity, it brlngs about
feelings of inadequacy and gullt zn the mother At the
mercy of both her child and of soclety, the mother
constantly assesses her performance in terms of the Ideal
standard propagated by patriarchy Women are caught In a
dilemma as to how much love they should impart to thelr
children -- on one hand, they feel that lnfmlte love and
attent~on 1s due to thelr children, and on the other feel
that too much of affection would be to thelr detriment
Especially when women trled to integrate career wlth
motherhood, they suffered the gullt of neglecting thelr
chlldren.
2.6.1. "Feeling guilty seems almost a definition of
motherhood in this enlightened time" (SBD . 95) admlts Kate