Free Essays - Alienation in Landscape for a Good Woman :: Landscape for a Good Woman Essays

Alienation in Landscape for a Good Woman  In her opening to Landscape for a Good Woman, Carolyn Steedman claims that this is a drama of class (22) she blames her mothers labour background -- where fierce resentment against the unfairness of things, was carried through seventy years and trine generations ... and dissolved into the figure of her mother (30) -- for her own joyless childhood. The shocking portrait of Steedmans mother, who tells her children repeatedly both in her actions and words how unwanted they are, redefines the culturally normative nurturing billet of motherhood. While Steedmans passionate argument -- that her mothers history of material inequality was responsible for the creation of this monster-martyr-mother -- must not be discounted, it is incomplete. Her claim is convincing however, her mothers poor decisions were in like manner contributory causes. For example, Edna selected a married man who already had a daughter as the prince who would fulfill her desires for property, material goods and status which seems risky at best. However, her desperate, failed attempt to function his wife through motherhood after ten years of cohabitation is striking for both its evident lack of foresight and blindness to reality. It is difficult to imagine that her illusion whereby life would somehow improve from this decision ever had the chance to be anything but a recipe for failure, especially since she pinned her hopes on this ploy not once,but twice. maybe Steedman wishes to imply that her mothers working-class status is responsible for her poor decision making skills. She certainly wants to convince us that her mothers desire for things is not trivial and she blames her mothers sense of unfairness, her whim that she had been refused entry to her rightful place in the world (112), on her working-class status. While this is certainly a key factor in the disturbing tale, it is not the only factor therefore, the story is more than a drama of c lass, for this complex portrait of Steedmans mother is that of a vain, mean-spirited, bitter woman whose priorities were in disorder. The fact that Steedmans mothers working-class relatives did not visit this illegitimate family indicates that her lack of a marriage certificate was unacceptable within her own class as well.