A Sorrowful Woman
A Sorrowful Woman is a short story written by Gail Godwin. This is a story about a woman who refused to accept her roles as a mother and a wife. The woman in the story was overwhelmed by her duties as a wife and a mother and withdrew from her husband and children completely. She was dissatisfied with her roles as a woman, but after trying other roles, none of them were able to satisfy her. Conversely, her husband is depicted as a gentle, respective and understanding man who does all he can to understand the sorrows of the wife, and tries to support her and help her overcome them. The husband hired a baby sitter to help her on the house hold roles but she still remain dissatisfied and fired her, then locked herself in a white
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room away from the husband and child. This is a story about a self-centered woman who disregarded her roles as a mother and wife, and the choices she made in life affected her relationship with her family, leading to her death. The sorrowful woman is the short story characterizes a woman who refused to accept the women roles in the society.
This woman was not meant to be defined as a wife and a mother but she was left with no options, since that was what the patriarchal society demanded from her. She refused to fulfill her duties as a woman, he author writes, "the woman now spent her winter afternoons in the big bedroom and sat in the big chair and stared out the window at snow’ ridden branches" (Godwin 40). In contrast to his wife, the husband in the story is depicted as a loving father and husband who took over his wife’s roles and responsibilities in order to show his support to the woman. The man tried his best to console his wife by waking up early to prepare breakfast, taking the child to school, doing the shopping and even hiring a baby sitter for his son just to prove his love for his wife, but the wife remained selfish and detached herself from her …show more content…
family. In the story, the woman’s emotional well being was deteriorating as days passed by. She thought by abandoning her roles as a wife and mother would satisfy her in life, but instead, she remains unsatisfied with her new roles. As the story develops, the protagonist gets worse, in spite of how her husband tries hard to help her. Her actions to isolate from her husband and child and the refusal to fulfill her duties as a wife and mother brings her more dissatisfaction. In the end, she isolates herself from the family completely despite the fact that she has a husband and a child that loves her. She hid herself in a white room all alone, and ultimately, the isolation from the family and loneliness led to her death. The protagonist had a husband and child who loved her, but she pulled away from them, and remained in isolation. The protagonist in the story did not want to play a wife and a mother role in the society.
All she needed was to educate herself and find some work outside her house instead of isolating herself from the two people who loved her; her husband and child. Her husband loved her and this is evident when Godwin writes, “squeezed his wife’s pale arm” and “sat for a long time with his head in his hands” (25). Just because the society demanded her to take care of her home, husband and child did not mean she could not have a career of her own (Gardiner 285). The sorrowful woman destroyed her life after she isolated herself from the family which led to her death. Godwin’s story signifies that, not all women want to be a full time wife and mother; they want to try out new
things. Godwin balanced the roles of the characters in her story by presenting a selfish and unsatisfied wife with a patient and an understanding husband who loved his wife. The husband took care of the household chores and their child even after the woman isolated herself from them. The husband even took the chance to train the child to get used to her mother’s situation. The husband’s character in the story defined a man’s true strength, since he showed his selflessness for the sake of their child and the family. In conclusion, Godwin’s short story A sorrowful Woman presents a woman who is tired of being confined to the wife and mother roles. Godwin explores her life as a mother, and wife and even after she discarded her woman roles in the society. The protagonist in the story tries to live a different life apart from the life expected of a woman in the society but she still remains unsatisfied. She felt helpless after she tried all other roles, and this made her withdrawn from her family, and the rest of the world. Comparably, the husband in the story is presented as a selfless man who is ready to take care of his family despite the fact that his wife has neglected her duties as a mother and wife. The woman in the story is a selfish mother who neglects her child and husband and the isolation from her family led to her death.
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In many stories that one reads, characters exhibit numerous behaviors throughout the story such as excitement, sadness, and loneliness. A fairytale will have happy character behaviors and end happily, whereas depressed characters the story may end melancholy, which can affect the outcome of the story. In the short story “A Sorrowful Women” written by Gail Godwin, the main character that is unnamed exhibits several behaviors. Such as a mental illness, behaviors of not wanting a family anymore, and the women shows behaviors that she’s not happy with the performance of a mother and wife. For she’d shows these behaviors at the end of the story the sorrowful women
The men treated their women as if they were an object. After marriage the husbands had full control over any finances or property that the women had once owned. Women didn’t have to many rights if any and were expected to stay at home and be the stereotypical house wife doing the daily house duties, looking after the children and making the meal. Even if women didn’t like it it was almost as if they were forced to be the stay at home mother. Mathilde Loisel suffering from this middle class life style just wanted to live a glamorous and luxuries life. “She would so much have liked to please, to be envied, to be charming, to be seductive and sought after."(Maupassant 1). Loisel felt trapped in this life of almost poverty and just wants to escape. She wants to live this glamorous life of having things done for her and being able to have the luxuries that the upper class have and is clearly jealous of her wealthy friend Mme. Frostier and would like to be in her shoes. But at the end of the day she is confined in this middle class lifestyle and can only wish for a better
Gail Godwin's short story "A Sorrowful Woman" revolves around a wife and mother who becomes overwhelmed with her husband and child and withdraws from them, gradually shutting them completely out of her life. Unsatisfied with her role as dutiful mother and wife, she tries on other roles, but finds that none of them satisfy her either. She is accustomed to a specific role, and has a difficult time coping when a more extensive array of choices is presented to her. This is made clear in this section of the story.
Men were the ones in the family who worked and provided for his family's wellbeing. Because of the family's economic dependence on the husband, he had control over all of his family members. This showed the amount of progress needing to come in the future to allow women to start receiving some of the many rights they deserved which men had and so frequently took for granted.
...he stopped being the protector and the only rational thinker in the family. In this short story, the men had power over women and they undermined them. The narrator insisted to her husband that she was sick, but he never took her serious instead, he confined her in an isolated place away from home and her child. Eventually both husband and wife loose because, they are trapped in fixed gender roles and could not go against them.
Many women in modern society make life altering decisions on a daily basis. Women today have prestigious and powerful careers unlike in earlier eras. It is more common for women to be full time employees than homemakers. In 1879, when Henrik Ibsen wrote A Doll's House, there was great controversy over the out come of the play. Nora’s walking out on her husband and children was appalling to many audiences centuries ago. Divorce was unspoken, and a very uncommon occurrence. As years go by, society’s opinions on family situations change. No longer do women have a “housewife” reputation to live by and there are all types of family situations. After many years of emotional neglect, and overwhelming control, Nora finds herself leaving her family. Today, it could be said that Nora’s decision is very rational and well overdue.