Powerful Woman in Pearl Buck's The Three Daughters of Madame Liang
Love, loss, and tragedy are the three main aspects of any excellent novel. Pearl Buck has written a novel that has all of these aspects, which is The Three Daughters of Madame Liang (1969). This story is about a family in a Chinese town called Shangai. The novel revolves around the mother of the family, Madame Liang, who is an elderly woman with three very skilled daughters. The story is about the challenges of Eastern China versus the thriving American culture. Madame Liang sends her three daughters to America to be free of the society in China. Although she is wealthy and has power in her society, she fears for her children's lack of opportunities in the small town. When the Chinese ministers summon one daughter home because she is a doctor, everything changes for the mother and the fear she once had slowly becomes a reality. The novel was intriguing to the reader because of the mother's character is the most important aspect of the story. Madame Liang is a strong woman whose beauty and elegance is described perfectly, she holds the other characters together, and is a silent leader for the country.
Madame Liang is a character with many different complicated aspects. All of the other characters in the story revolve the mother. As the novel begins and ends, the mother is described as strong and beautiful. The description of the mother created a symbol of the power and ability for women, which is shown through her daughters. In the beginning the author says, "There were too many men and women who were jealous of the famous Madame Liang, who managed, no one knew how, to keep open a restaurant whose daily menu carried the finest gourmet foods" (1). This shows ...
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...his shows the value she holds for her country, even though she expresses fear for the country, as well. This is an ironic perk that many may not have grasped about the novel's plot.
Overall I found this character to make up the novel using her strength, wisdom, and intelligence was very important. The novel manly told the tale of the daughters, but I found the mother's character to be the true story told by the novel. I felt like it was a symbol for women power and over the changing times this was really a new concept for women for the time period to still have money and be in such a political standing for women. This was a very inspiring story especially for women and I felt like the mother's character was a true activist for new countries changing times.
Work Cited
Buck, Pearl S. "The Three Daughters of Madame Liang." 1969. New York,
NY. April 25, 2004.
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