Gail Godwin's A Sorrowful Woman

Gail Godwin’s “A Sorrowful Woman” represents the feminist thoughts of a woman oppressed by a male dominated society. In society, a woman’s role is as a homemaker, however Godwin’s character refuses to accept the role given to her. Through the use of character development, Godwin is effectively able to bring light to how one could oppress a female despite what appears to be a happy home life. Gail Godwin was raised by a divorced mother who influenced much of her writing. Her mother inspired her to write about strong female characters and the choices they made. As Godwin grew up, she began to write for the modern woman. Helene Cixous argues that a woman must write about female characters because only a woman can truly portray the subjection

They are always known as the boy, the man, the girl or the woman. Each character is dehumanized to just their sex to show the differences between them. Godwin also never gives them physical characteristics or a human form. By dividing the characters by gender only, the reader is able to see a clear divide between gender roles throughout the story. Godwin uses these gender roles to show how the woman is oppressed as well as how she tries to disobey her role in society. The gender role of a female is presented in the statement, “The man and the boy came home and found: five loaves of warm bread, a roast…two weeks’ supply of fresh-laundered sheets…and a tablet full of love sonnets addressed to the man.” The woman’s role was evident to be loving and caring and to take care of the household. However, Godwin’s character, the woman, goes against these societal norms and neglects both her home and her family. Godwin explains how “she came as a visitor to her son’s room” The woman was so far removed from her family and her household that she neglected to see the changes in both. She refuses to conform to an enforced position. By naming the characters by gender, Godwin is effectively able to elude to the roles and responsibilities of each character. Godwin then uses their sex to give the characters other worldly qualities that further divide the characters between gender

The man is described as reliable, understanding and loving. Godwin proves this by writing, about the husband, that “he was attuned to her; he understood such things (33),” he was the perfect, loving husband. The boy is also described as “tender and golden three (33).” The girl is energetic and did everything the woman was expected to do yet failed to accomplish. Godwin describes her in the statement, “She painted the room white, fed the child lunch…cleaned…made them laugh…knitted dresses…and gave her neck rubs, offered to. (34)” However, the woman is only ever described as sad and unwell and even a little cold. Godwin explains how “the sight of them made her so sad and sick she did not want to see them again.” The characters’ perfection makes the flaws of the woman stand out to the reader. Their perfection makes it all to clear how the woman is pressured and eventually oppressed by her role. Each character is described as an oppressive force on the woman which would lead to an even deeper feeling of subjection. The perfect characters provide a huge contrast on the woman which makes her feel inadequate and unable to cope with the