Mental Illness In Godwin's A Sorrowful Woman

Here opening line is “Once upon a time there was a wife and a mother one too many times” (Meyer 39). Here we find a stereotypical opening for a fairy tale but soon readers immerse themselves in an atypical tale. The first hints that she has an idea life start to resound in the very first sentence. “One winter evening she looked at them: the husband durable, receptive, gentle; the child a tender golden three.” Then the striking line, “The sight of them made her so sad and sick she did not want to see them ever again.” (Meyer 39). Unlike Melville, Godwin, quickly states the dissonance between the character and the character’s family.

In the sixth short story. ‘On Her Knees’, Winton explores the relationship between a mother and son and focuses on the key issue of Sacrifice. The mother has taken a job below her standing to pay off debt from a now distant husband and to allow her son to go to university so they can experience a better life. Winton invites the audience to consider the mother’s sacrifice by utilising the son’s point of view of how he feels about his responsibilities into account of his mother’s new job. The son often helps his mother at her new job and when he isn’t helping he is ‘stewed with guilt’ (pg 101). Consequently, the guilt of his mum’s sacrifice has put an enormous amount of pressure on him, as if he might fail her if he doesn’t proceed to do well at university. Winton’s use of character development to present the theme of sacrifice, invites the audience to consider the value behind the sacrifices we make for the people we love and care for. Unlike this short story, ‘On Her Knees’, ‘Abbreviation’ and ‘Damaged Goods’ can be seen as

Gilman’s use of pathos, makes the reader feel angry that the narrator is tied and bound to a society that thought confinement was the best cure for post-partum depression. She knows what is best for her, yet no one will listen, “I sometimes fancy that in my condition if I had less, opposition, and more society and stimulus- but John says the very worst thing I can do is to think about my condition, and I confess it always makes me feel bad” (Gilman, P.462). It made me feel bad that there was nothing that the narrator could do, but succumb to the norms of society, and try to recover without being around people, working, and living a normal

In "A Sorrowful Woman" the wife is depressed with her life, so much so, "The sight of them made her so sad and sick she did not want to see them ever again"(p.1). This wife and mother has come to detest her life, the sight of her family,

In a world usually depicted as a “man’s world,” a woman’s role is not considered as significant and thus can be repressed. It is why a feminist perspective or criticism comes into place, especially in literature. By definition, a feminist criticism consist of scrutinizing “the ways in which literature reinforces the economic, political, social, and psychological oppression of women.” (Tyson) In Gail Godwins’s A Sorrowful Woman, the leading female character is concentrated in her efforts in distancing from her structured lifestyle. A feminist would critic Godwins story by as the female character is in pursuit of peace and happiness and wants to escape from the role she has been implanted. The critic would concentrate on the experience woman

“Once upon a time there was a wife and mother one too many times” (Godwin 39). This short story begins with the famous opening, once upon a time, which foreshadows that the story line will be similar to a fairy tale. It raises expectations for the story that all will be magical and end happily. A typical modern-day fairy tale is that of a distressed character who overcomes an obstacle, falls in love with prince charming, and they ride off into the sunset; living happily ever after never to be heard from again. Godwin however, puts an unexpected twist on “A Sorrowful Woman”. This short story is a tale about what can happen when everyday roles take over our identity. Ultimately, this short story challenges societal expectations of marriage

Throughout the book The Glass Castle, the mother and father show many signs of mental illness. When Jeannette was three years old, she remembers “standing on a chair in front of the stove, wearing a pink dress… I could hear mom in the next room singing while she worked on one of her paintings… I felt a blaze of heat on my right side, I turned to see where it was coming from and realized my dress was on fire” (Walls 9) This quote shows that the mother has a mental illness if she is letting her three year old, Jeanette, in a dress stand over a stove cook hot dogs unsupervised, especially if the mother isn’t in the same room and isn’t able to hear Jeannette when something goes wrong. This is where bad decisions can cause people to lose money, family/support, and eventually become homeless.

As a woman, the narrator must be protected and controlled and kept away from harm. This seemed to be the natural mindset in the 19th century, that women need to have guidance in what they do, what decisions they make, and what they say. John calls her a “little goose”(95) and his “little girl”(236), referring her to a child, someone who needs special attention and control. His need for control over her is proven when she admits that her husband is “careful and loving and hardly lets me stir without special direction”(49). John has mentally restrained the speaker’s mind, she is forced to hide her anxieties, fears and be submissive, to preserve the happiness of their marriage. When the narrator attempts to speak up, she is bogged down and made guilty of her actions. Her husband makes her feel guilty for asking, he says, “‘I beg of you, for my sake and for our child’s sake, as well as your own, that you will never for one instant let that idea enter your mind!’”(225-226). By making her feel guilty for her illness, John has trapped her mentally from speaking up about it, convincing her that she must be more careful about her actions. Men often impose the hardships placed upon women during this era. They are often the people reassuring them of their “womanly” duties, and guiding them

When the readers meet the young, subordinated wife of a physician, who remains nameless throughout the entire story, perhaps hinting at the commonness of such situations where all those women are the same: faceless and nameless, this woman’s dilemma becomes obvious. She has been stripped off the only function a woman in those times had, the domestic one, due to the fact that she suffers from a mysterious illness which requires the infamous bed cure. Gradually, she is treated more and more as a child, unable and even forbidden to express herself in a creative way, namely to write, being persuaded that it cannot do any good to someone in her condition. This is why the protagonist (who is simultaneously the narrator), takes it upon herself to write a journal about her experiences and the mysterious woman that haunts her from the

depression gets to where it is too much, then the mother may need to be put on antidepressant medicine, such as Zoloft, or the mother may need to go to a psychiatric hospital for treatment (Benson 1404). When the mother is feeling unwell, the family needs to take on as much of the housework that the mother wants to give up. However, when she feels better then the family needs to let her do as much as she wants to (Mothersbliss). Jane's treatment takes care of her physically, but Jane

Gail Godwin's "A Sorrowful Woman&lt" leads one to believe that the wife is overwhelmed or possibly just having a bad day. The belief is that with her husband's understanding she and her family will get through this difficult time. Everyone has a bad day and people get aggravated at times. However, a shocking revelation comes to the reader that this isn't just a bad day. A deeper look into the story reveals that the wife's selfishness and pity for her life is fueling her sorrow and along with their lack of communication causes the demise of this family.

In Tom Godwin’s short story, “Cold Equations”, he elucidates the thematic tension compassion versus outcome, where he favors the compassion aspect of the thematic tension.

This tragic marriage and feelings of guilt and grief have been haunting her since the time which can be seen in a recurring motif of a polka tune Varsouviana which „[has been] caught in [her] head“ (Williams 113) and which she associates with the night her husband committed suicide. It is obvious that she has never come to terms with her past. Whenever someone mentions her dead husband, she does not feel well: „The boy - the boy died. Iʼm - going to be sick!“ (Williams 31) She realizes that she is responsible for his death and does not know how to deal with it which results in her love affairs, withdrawal from reality and the final mental breakdown.

It was important never to mislead oneself as to the motives of other people, those who insisted on being kind, and those who, as was usual in her case, manifested a concern which was quickly tinged with irritation. ‘If only she would do something to help herself,’ was the habitual lament of those in the second category. So few people could be found who would understand or even try to understand a woman of her age and uncertain status, with no job, no profession, and no apparent avocation apart from caring for her mother. At this stage of the twentieth century mothers were supposed to look after themselves, even if elderly and frail, and to join ‘keep-fit’ and ‘self-help’ classes if they were not, thus sometimes appearing more vigorous than daughters who were beset with husbands and lovers and who had not yet rid themselves of menopausal

This is the author's first attempt at making the audience have sympathy for the woman. In our modern day society, we would think that this woman is abandoned and maybe might need some kind of physiological attention. This is a contrast to Poe who wanted people to get the impression that the speaker in his story was a mad man. They both seem to want you to have a kind heart when thinking about the two, however, Poes' character dismisses his credibility when he starts to talk about his reasoning behind his killing.