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Literary elements in ‘A Sorrowful Woman’ by Gayle Godwin

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Gayle Godwin, an American writer of short stories, a journalist and a novelist, has greatly

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impacted and enhanced the growth of American literature over the years. Gayle has written

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various short stories and other literary pieces, but this essay will review one of her masterpiece,
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‘A Sorrowful Woman’ that was first published in 1971. The story follows the life of an unnamed

woman, who is overwhelmed by the presence of her husband and son, and gradually withdraws
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from them and shuts them completely out of her life (33). She tries other roles but realizes that
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none satisfies her either, as the author says, ‘she tried these personalities on like costumes and
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then discarded them’ (Par. 20). Since she is accustomed to a specific role, she finds it more
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difficult to cope when other roles are presented to her. Godwin uses various literary devices to

present a broader aspect of her work. In this essay, I will analyze the three major literary
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elements that the author uses to develop her story. These are irony, symbolism, and
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characterization, which have a significant influence on the overall tone of the story and allow the
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readers to foresee the outcome.

‘A sorrowful woman’ creates an ironic fable, where a woman is unwilling to accept her

role of a dutiful wife and mother, which is described by the patriarchal myths as the proper role

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of women in society. Rebelling against such a role is unacceptable in our societies. This is the

kind of trap that the protagonist of the story is rebelling against, but she is left with no options

and cannot express her problem freely. Her problem doesn’t originate for her husband, whom she

describes as supportive and understanding nor from her son, who copes well after his parent’s

separation. It is ironical how their acceptance only adds to her depression and it ‘…made her so

sad and sick..’(38) rather than making her happy. There is verbal irony where she calls herself the

‘luckiest woman’ when we very well know that she is unhappy with her life and she doesn’t want

her husband’s care, but desires to gain freedom from her situation. Godwin also uses situational

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irony by beginning the story with ‘once upon a time’ (33) like a fairytale, but the story has a sad

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ending where the sorrowful woman commits suicide. It’s ironic how a woman denies her role

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and becomes depressed for it. Bearing a child is one of the greatest achievements of most women
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and a mother will always protect her child no matter what. She describes herself as the ‘luckiest’,

but it is ironic that she doesn’t feel so because she is tired of doing things for her family. This
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shows that marriage isn’t a life-fulfilling dream to some women, who find it sickening and
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overwhelming like the sorrowful woman.

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Godwin utilizes a great deal of symbolism in this short story. The only reoccurring
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symbol in ‘A Sorrowful Woman’ is that of being trapped or caged in. The woman wanted to be

free from her role of being a wife and mother. Feminists have constantly addressed this issue,
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where women feel trapped in their femininity that requires them to be perfect nurturers and

caregivers. Her current situation compels her to seek alternative roles that would satisfy her. A
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depressed wife and mother, is described as ‘a young queen, a virgin in a tower..’ (42), depicting

the woman’s self-centeredness. These are fairy-tale images acting as symbols of entrapment

because a virgin in a tower is powerless, imprisoned and waiting to be rescued. She dreams of

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freedom, locked up in a tower that is free from distractions and accountability. The sorrowful

woman also represents the woman that wasn’t meant to be a wife or mother, but finds herself

trapped. People believe that marriage and motherhood should symbolize a fairy tale with a

happily ever after ending. However, the author uses the story to emphasize that not all marriages

end up as a happy ending. Another example of symbolism is ‘The draught was a nightly thing,’

(40). It appears in several places in the story, signifying the woman’s addiction to draught. She

wished to be free from everything, and as a farewell, she prepared a meal that could last her

family for several days, before committing suicide (37). This signifies that some women don’t

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want to be wives and mothers.

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‘A sorrowful woman’ has three main characters; a husband, a wife and their son. Godwin

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describes the husband as a sympathetic, loving and understanding father. He devotes his time and
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effort to support his wife by taking over her responsibilities when she was depressed. The
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woman is trapped in her depressive state that makes her see her family as a burden and ends up
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pushing them away. She can’t look at her son, play with him or talk to him because she doesn’t

love him. The son is very loving and understanding because even when his mother doesn’t play
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with him, he says ‘it’s all alright mommy’ (43). Godwin also uses the girl that is hired by the
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husband to help with the house chores, but the woman fires her because her presence agitates her.

The girl only tries to do her best to provide the care that the woman fails to give to her son. The
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author uses the sorrowful woman’s character figuratively because motherhood and taking care of

the family are responsibilities that shouldn’t be regarded as she does. The character of the
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husband is used to describe the real essence of being a responsible partner and father. He was

patient enough with his wife and did her best to console her by providing care and

understanding, and he said ‘I want to be big enough to contain whatever you must do’ (49). This

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shows his commitment to taking care of his family. Godwin balances the characters of a

supportive husband with his unsatisfied and selfish wife and mother. He represents the ‘tower’

and ‘refuge’ for his family. This also foreshadows what awaits him upon his wife’s death, and he

even trains his son to remain independent from his mother. This characterization represents

extreme characters of individuals, where an extremely selfish wife is coupled with a selfless

husband to balance their relationship. The author doesn’t name (33) the characters, meaning that

they play a universal role.

To conclude, Godwin’s short story ‘A sorrowful woman’ is a parody of fairy tales that she

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uses to portray modern marriages. She mocks the traditional fairy tale that has a definite happy

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ending by giving readers the illusion of a happy story at the beginning. To achieve this goal, the

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author utilizes irony, symbolism and characterization in a very effective manner. Godwin intends
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to show the reader that the meaning of family and the attitude that people have towards it, is very
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subjective. The different attitudes that people develop towards families will determine one’s level
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of happiness. Family is an important aspect of any society, but ironically, it is the source of

sorrow to the protagonist yet she decided to start a family. Her sorrow doesn’t only affect her, but
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also her husband and son. The literary elements of irony, symbolism and characterization help
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readers foreshadow the ending of the story, which is a sad one. This is a lesson to readers that not

all women want the same things in life, and women who find pleasure in independence and
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freedom from the mainstream should not be condemned.

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