Gail Godwin's A Sorrowful Woman

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Recommended: A sorrowful woman literary analysis

Society’s social standards usually had a great impression on how people portray themselves. They do what is expected of them. Most people do not want to break social norms in any time period because they want to appear normal. Being a cultural poet, the short story “A Sorrowful Woman” proved that every writer does not write according to his or her own time period. “A Sorrowful Woman” used a timeless theme to convey how gender roles can be manipulated under different circumstances. Using new historicism, “A Sorrowful Woman” by Gail Godwin subverted the episteme of the year 1971, in which it was written. Young girls in the year 1971 were being raised to hold a family and marriage to the highest regards (jezebel.com). Young girls in that day were taught to believe that because of the economic recession they were in, getting married was a way to secure a stable life (learningenglish.voanews.com). “A Sorrowful Woman” discarded that notion in the beginning of the story by having the nameless wife and mother disgusted by the sight of her husband and child. The wife/mother grew tired of her position that many females dreamed of being in. She felt smothered by the episteme that she should love all the responsibly that comes with being a wife and mother. …show more content…

Her husband becomes the submissive partner, taking care of the child and house and becomes more of the compromiser to the wife. The woman spoke about what and how she felt and started to not care how she looked. When reading this part of “A Sorrowful Woman” one would get into a state of aporia, which is believing something can have many meanings. This happened for oneself as a reader because the woman could be pushing her feminist boundaries or truly just needed a break from her normal

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