The ambivalence in the relationship between Annette and Antoinette is painful at times, and leads to the mental illnesses that consume both mother and daughter. It is uncertain whether mental illness impeded the mother-daughter relationship from developing in Wide Sargasso Sea, or whether the thwarted relationship caused mental illness. In any case, Antoinette is shown to be a person who needs the role of mother in her life. This is why she develops a strong bond with Christophene. This "cross-racial mothering relationship" allows Antoinette to "transfer" her love, which Annette could not accept, to a surrogate (Adalgisa 62). The role of Christophene as surrogate mother is not unusual, according to Adalgisa. In traditional cultures, and especially those of West Africa, the "othermother" was a woman who would help a birthmother as an essential community survival strategy. Othermothering survived as a cultural, social, political, and economic institution in slave cultures in exile from Africa, allowing the daughters of enslaved mothers to survive. This is a non-patriarchal and non-European vision of motherhood that transcends the more restrictive type of motherhood idealized in the institution of nuclear family. Instead of burdening the woman with domestic servitude and restricting her work life to the unpaid labor of household management, the othermother model allows all women to pursue work while also remaining true to their mothering. Unfortunately, Antoinette has inherited from her mother more than just mental illness, though. She also inherits a racialized worldview, racism, and a racist society. Antoinette can never truly love Christophene in the way Christophene is capable of loving her, which highlights the fact that ambivalence can emerge also in the relationship between daughter and surrogate mother. It is not just biological mother that causes rifts in the personal identity. Sula and Wide Sargasso Sea do not address the complexities of the stepmother-daughter relationship, which also introduces different dynamics and dimensions.
Relationships between females are determined by the nature of the mother-daughter relationship. How one feels about one's role as mother, and about...
Crying in H Mart: Zauner�s Connection to Her Mother�s Cooking to Process GriefIn Crying in H Mart, Zauner describes her mother Chongmi as loving but strict. She also states that �I relied on my mom for access to our Korean heritage� (4). This is an important point that Zauner uses to frame her story: her connection to her mom is not just about mother-daughter, it is about past-present. To maintain
For Amy Tan, however, attempting, for her parents' sake, to become simultaneously Chinese and American, without compromising either culture, or herself, was a tricky balancing act. As E.D. Huntley adds: Amy Tan spent her childhood years attempting to understand, as well as to come to terms with and to reconcile, the contradictions between her ethnicity and the dominant Western culture in which she was being raised and educated. She lived the
" The Eating Disorder Inventory or the Eating Disorder Inventory for Children surveys were completed. Findings in this study report that the results "indicate that...before puberty there appear to be virtually no significant relationships between mothers' and daughters' eating attitudes and behaviors." (Sanftner, 1993) However, as the girls progressed through puberty "some relationships begin to emerge between mothers' weight preoccupation, dieting, and bulimic behaviors and their daughters' dieting and drive
Daughters in literature requires a thorough analysis of gender roles and norms. The concept of daughter is directly linked to gender roles, as being a daughter entails specific social and familial responsibilities. Daughters' rights, roles, and responsibilities vis-a-vis their male siblings can therefore become a gendered lens, which is used to read literature. This is true even when the daughters in question are not protagonists. For example, Sonya in Fyodor
"It is, of course, impossible to catalogue all the circumstances in the outer world that shape children. Children are products of their moment in history, of prevailing conventions and wisdom, of social crusades." (Weissbourd 27) Lidoff, points out the value of the diconect, as it is seen through the narration of perception, rather than reality of feeling. Reflecting that one really can not know another, no matter how close one
Night Mother play that portrays suicide as a solution for life's pain, Marsha Norman's "Night Mother" does not seem like school drama material. However, the poignant play permits teens to perceive the impact that their decisions have on their loved ones, and through the intense dialogue enables them to understand family dynamics. The entire play consists of a conversation between a mother and her daughter, who is in her late
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now