the problematics of motherhood in twentieth century women's fiction

to the Church in the same way as her mother did. Her mother
withdraws her love as Merldlan is not able to meet her
conditions. As a daughter, Meridian spends years trying to
expiate the guilt she felt for having failed her mother.
Her family history is one of mothers who even sacrificed
thelr lives for their children. Mrs Hill's great - great
grandmother was
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a slave who steals back her children and
does all she can to feed them, herself meeting death due to
stamatlon.
Mrs Hlll's own mother washes other people's
laundry in order to get her daughter educated. As a mother
herself, Meridlan feels guilty of being unable to keep up to
the standards of maternal history Ln her family
She loves
her son in an 'Impersonal' way and knows that she cannot
offer him unlimited sacrifice as the mothers before her did.
Even though she glves away her son to a couple who she feels
will look after h ~ m better than she can, she suffers a
llngerlng sense of guilt throughout her life
2.6.4. The theme of gullt is rnextrlcably woven with that
of maternal love In Toni Morrison's Beloved
Sethe's sense
of gullt, as a consequence of the act of murdering her
daughter, is compounded by the baby ghost's hauntlng of the
house.
The invisible ghost, and its physical presence
elghteen years later in the form of Beloved, are external
manifestations of Sethe's guilty conscience. Seen from one
Perspective, the dominant theme of Beloved seems to be guilt