A Sorrowful Woman by Gail Godwin - Essay Example

?Critical analysis of the Sorrowful Woman A Sorrowful Woman is a literary piece written by Gail Godwin. The story of the book revolves around a womanwho is in the phase of marriage and motherhood and what she takes out of it. This short story is about a woman who does not find happiness out of her marriage and motherhood life. Though everyone expects a life to take a positive course after marriage, it is not all who accepts the change of phase in their lives. The story mainly focuses on the feelings and disturbances of the protagonist who could not find peace at the homely life she gets to live and wants to explore something more to satisfy her quench for difference. Despite her success in getting what she wanted the protagonist could not enjoy and take in it fully. She searches for her identity and ends up being nothing as she gives up on her search soon. Author Gail Kathleen Godwin is a prominent short story writer and American Novelist. The woman author is passionate about writing on topics that touch womanhood and has been successful in bringing out the different dimensions of woman through her writings. All of her novels have a touch of woman trying to come out of a restricted environment and live the life on their own way. The writings describe her personality at large and she was the National Book Award finalist for one her well-known book. She has passed through some of the restrictive periods for woman and this must have been the reason that drove her to write on that line. Godwin’s novels generally have female protagonist and her books every piece of emotions that are involved around woman, especially on those whose lives are confined or limited to a particular direction. If we get into the short story, A Sorrowful Woman, the author has managed to effectively bring out the inner hidden feeling of self that is found in every human being. A happily ever after note is not the case for the entire woman who get married and have children. The story brings out that there are woman who get sick of the restrictive life that they get to have after the marriage. In this story, the protagonist, a woman, gets gloomy after marriage and the author manages to bring out it in the beginning chapter itself. Though there is no explicit mention about her childhood, the author has provided few statements which bring out the fact that the woman had a rather happy life then (Godwin, 1996). Gail Godwin has brought forth the transition of the protagonist’s character in a smooth and effective way. Soon after the marriage she gets into a lot of responsibility of a married woman where she had to take care of the husband’s needs and look after his comfort. This is when the first feeling of difference starts. It grows further when she attains motherhood and she felt that her identity is completely lost and all she gets to do is to care for her children and husband. The husband and children treat her in a lovely way and the husband is loyal and sincere towards her. Still, she feels that the spark is missing in her life. The author has managed to bring out the true hidden feeling of the protagonist in an interesting narrative. A lot of intricacy is involved in describing the way the author feels and how it takes out to be. Dissatisfied protagonist of Godwin decides to shun her husband and children from her life and wants to take up a life on her own where she could reinvent herself in a better way. Her decision is followed by her moving into the white room which is set up exclusively for her. Godwin’s protagonist starts to spend life all to her, taking away even the slightest connection she has towards her family. The author takes us through the pendulum of thoughts that are going on in the mind of the protagonist whose ideas changes quite often. The story’s focus turns out solely on the protagonist once she decides to move to the white room and the author has managed to cover all the possible feelings that comes out of loneliness and isolation. Godwin has also brought out the uncertainties that are generally associated with women especially when she is alone in a more elaborate manner. Though she has kept herself away from a dutiful and caring wife and mother, she could not come out of it completely. The author has provided with some reasons and scenarios that the woman faces in the white room to reassure this position of uncertainty in a better way. The protagonist, despite her status of loneliness, which she desperately wanted, feels uncomfortable once she moves into the white room. She still gets out combing her hair in the sun and when she tries to explore her identity through writing poem, she gets nervous and uncomfortable. There is no way that a person can feel comfortable when they are starkly lonely and isolated. This has been clearly demonstrated in the writing as the author provides, "her poem could be six, eight, ten, thirteen lines, it could be any number of lines, and it did not even have to rhyme." It becomes clear that the protagonist woman is not comfortable with the fact that she is not involved in the family structure anymore. The phase of exploration of the real identity is covered extensively in the story. Godwin provides for the kind of initiatives taken by the protagonist to get good at something and, eventually, what she decides to be. The protagonist of the story decides to take up something else that would satisfy her. Godwin describes her to be highly dissatisfied with her previous position and the author increases the curiosity levels of the readers as to what she is up to finally. She tries hard to get good at something and looks out for something that will bring in the much needed satisfaction levels in her. Despite, trying quite hard at fitting any of the roles possible, she is unable to do it. Her inability further contributes to the isolation and weakness. Godwin provides a clear picture over how it gets her further into the shell and the isolation from the rest of the world is continued by the protagonist. Her gloominess turns the white room a secluded places and she refuses to look out to the world for anything. Now, the protagonist added the whole world to the list she wants to avoid contact with. She opts to stay with no roles to play, just live life and nothing else to do. It is definitely one of the most brutal decisions that anyone could take against themselves but that’s what the protagonist of the story decides to do. All that the protagonist does is to live without any duties, without any roles and completely without any sort of attachment. The author really showcases this metamorphosis in a beautiful way. There is not only any sort of physical attachment that the protagonist faces but overall she shies away from any sort of emotional feelings as well. She chooses to merely exist in the white room of hers which does not allow for any other inhabitants. The author helps us to visualize the plight of the protagonist when she describes that she is an outsider to the world. She is an outsider who is completely out of the world and just looks into what is happening there. Best described as the untouchable and isolated, the protagonist remains still and choose to be that all throughout. The story demonstrates the process where a woman gets dissatisfied with her role of wife, as a mother and how she jumps out of the dissatisfactory duty she had to perform by isolating herself. The story also shows that how the woman could not handle too many choices that she gets in life and opts out to the most static role of doing nothing. The protagonist chooses to continue her isolation, by just being an onlooker of the world. Gail Godwin has demonstrated a great deal of thoughtfulness over the topic and entices the readers with a crisp writing that is much needed in short stories. Though, the story is little extended in certain areas, it is aimed at giving a clear picture over the phase of the protagonist’s life. Godwin has made her writing direct to the point and takes the readers through an emotional ride on the protagonist. The theme of loneliness and isolations has been well dealt and she connects it to the white color, the color of the protagonist’s room, to bring out the hidden meaning. It should be said that the author has succeeded in her attempt to showcase the multiple dimensions to a woman personality without being too critical about it. On the whole, A Sorrowful Woman by Gail Godwin entices the readers with its short and crisp writing on one of the most difficult areas, emotional and physical isolation. Reference Godwin G. A Sorrowful Woman, Ballantine Books, 1996. Print. Meyer M. The Bedford Introduction to Literature: Reading, Thinking, Writing. Bedford Books of St. Martin's Press, 2007. Print. Read More