The protagonist in Gail Godwin’s short tale A Sorrowful Woman is a woman and parent who, after becoming overburdened with her spouse and kid, withdraws from them and progressively cuts them off from her existence. She tries on different roles after becoming dissatisfied with her duties as a responsible wife and mother but discovers that very few of them please her, either. She struggles to adjust when given a wider range of options since she is used to playing a particular character. Such a state of affairs (continuous suppression and discriminative duties) leads her to depression – a condition that many women faced in the 70s.
Godwin’s protagonist has a pretty regimented existence as a wife and mother. Her activities mostly consist of looking after her spouse, their child, and the house. She clearly is not happy with this, as seen by her efforts to do away with this job, yet she feels uncomfortable without such a framework. She establishes a habit of combing her hair in the sunlight every day. When she chooses to compose a poem, she hesitates to begin the task once she becomes aware of the variety of alternatives available to her; the thought of having such freedom appears to disturb her (Gardiner 291). It seems reasonable to state that this situation reveals her apprehension and uneasiness within the scope of self-expression.
Godwin’s heroine similarly tries on several roles as a result of her discontent with her current one. She puts on a lot of different characters, but none of them indeed seemed to delight her. She tested these identities on like clothes, then rejected them. Her overarching sense of powerlessness and ongoing isolation from her family and the world as a whole are likely caused by her failure to identify any role that truly fulfills her (Godwin). She tries to have no position at all since she can’t seem to find one that suits her. The sterility and solitude of the plain white room give the impression that she is attempting to rid herself of her past existence.
Here, it should be stressed that Gail Godwin’s story is one of her best-known works due to its relevance. She demonstrates in this choice how marrying does not always result in a happy life. Godwin illustrates contemporary marriages in the tale. A Sorrowful Woman can be considered a fairy-tale satire. The conventional fairy tale has a predetermined ending: everyone is contented forever. Given that the narration starts with “once upon a time,” the reader has the impression that the narrative will be cheerful at first. The classic fairy-tale concept is made fun of in this story.
The lack of names for the actors in this piece denotes that they are acting out a widespread role. The protagonist was not intended to be a wife and mother, according to the opening at the opening of the novel. This inference might be drawn since the phrase “once upon a time” suggests that she believed her lifestyle as a mother and spouse would be ideal (Godwin). She intentionally struck her child out of desperation that her spouse would notice it. The mom would be content to devote time to her household in a fairy tale. Godwin makes a mockery of fairy tales by making the characters act in ways that are completely contrary to what they would normally do.
When she became so depressed and ill at the thought of her relatives that she never wished to face them again, nothing could lift the sad woman’s melancholy, and she knew it. Instead of reviving her, her spouse gives her a sleepless night that makes her feel much worse. He appeared willing to do all he could to make his spouse joyful since he believed that would satisfy her (Gardiner 289). In contrast to Sleeping Beauty, the wife in A Sorrowful Woman dies rather than having a happy, ever-after life.
In A Sorrowful Woman, the author tells a terrible story of a mother who seems to be overworked and a devoted husband who is frantically attempting to keep his family together while dealing with the wife’s worsening psychological and emotional health. Her erratic behavior is well supported by the text as being caused by mental disease (Godwin). Her mental condition is not the sole cause of her behavior. In fact, it is not particularly the main one. She has ignored her attraction to women and suppressed her own sexuality, which has led to an atmosphere where her psychosis and addiction may flourish and eventually overtake and exhaust her.
According to 1970s gender stereotypes, a prosperous woman must be a good housewife, mother, and provider for her family. Godwin’s A Sorrowful Woman tells the tale of a mother who defies the social expectations placed on her. The protagonist of the narrative is perceived to be psychologically ill, but in reality, she is defying gender expectations by refusing to be a housewife, withdrawing from society, and exploring her genuine interests.
When the son and father later view it, he understands that things have reverted to regular, and that is how matters should have been. The boy believes the lady is asleep and claims she is exhausted from doing all of our tasks again until they rush in to find the woman deceased in her chamber. Making the home a better environment for her spouse and kids to live in by cooking and cleaning demonstrates to the reader what was socially acceptable at the time (Gardiner 293). To inform the audience that the lady may have felt regret for not being present to perform all of these tasks for her household and that perhaps she wished to perform it for them one more before she passed away, it might be assumed that Godwin included this section towards the end, just before the woman passed.
It demonstrates that not all women aspire to be homemakers, spouses, and moms. Some people could have loftier goals and objectives. They might not understand what it is, but they will make an effort to identify it. Males can take care of the house and kids while still earning a living and providing for their family, proving that they are able to be both head of the household and breadwinners. This narrative provides a sobering look at the times and the state of the world today. It should be stressed, according to Godwin’s short fiction, not all women aspire to be housewives and mothers – some people desire independence; they seek to be delivered from grief. The heartbreaking protagonist and her actions are made clearer to the spectator by the concept of feminism.
Works Cited
Gardiner, Judith. “A Sorrowful Woman”: Gail Godwin’s Feminist Parable.” Studies in Short Fiction, vol. 12, no. 3, 1975, pp. 286–296.
Godwin, Gail. A Sorrowful Woman. University of Minnesota Duluth. Web.