A Sorrowful Woman

A detailed Summary of A Sorrowful Woman


Gail Godwin's short story "A Sorrowful Woman" depicts the life of a woman with a terminal illness in her final stage of life. The short story opens up with the wife looking at the husband and her child describing the husband as "durable, receptive, gentle; the child a tender golden three. The sight of them made her so sad and sick she did not want to see them ever again" (33). The statement of the wife portrays the sense that she is resentful for the husband's health. The word "durable" exposes to the reader that husband is strong and the wife begrudges him and the child, for she is ashamed and it pains her to see them healthy as her health is depreciating.

A pivotal point to the insight of the story comes when the wife after going on a yelling rampage tells her husband "If only there were instant sleep" (33). The aspect of the wife's illness begins to take shape with her words to the husband


The mothers preoccupation with her illness is noted when telling her husband "the girl upsets me" referring to the girl hired to help with the child. Here the hired girl represents youth and vitality with which the wife detests and consequential she fires the girl. The wife's present absence of youth and vitality is realized by seeing the girl and knowing "now the days were too short" (36) she awoke at the crack of dawn and "her fingers raced the hours" (36). The wife become conscious of her final days and wanted to leave a positive message of her own as her time came to close. She had made an assortment of food and clean laundry before drinking her concoction of cognac and a dark liquid. When the husband and the child returned home "the house smelled redolently of renewal and spring" (37), which symbolized the wife's passing and the beginning of a new life for the husband who turned his life upside down to be with

Some common words found in the essay are:
Sorrowful Woman, dark liquid, Gail Godwin's, glass dark liquid, glass dark, youth vitality, short story, final stage, sorrowful woman, terminal illness, husband child, instant sleep,

Approximate Word count = 621
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

join now Save Paper

Related Essays

  • A Sorrowful Woman ampquotA Sorrowful Womanampquot is a selection written by Gail Godwin. Within ... Godwin uses ampquotA Sorrowful Womanampquot to portray modern marriages. ampquotA ... 817 words
  • Short Story Review of Gail Godwinamp39s Parable ampquotA Sorrowful Womanampquot The short story \ampquotA Sorrowful Woman\ampquot by Gail Godwin represents in parablefashion, what may in fact happen within a supposedly at least \ampquotfairy tale marriage ... 636 words
  • Defining literary comparisons in Kate Chopinamp39s The Story of an Hour and Gail Godwinamp39s A Sorrowful Woman are both similar pieces of literary work in that both stories offers a revealing glimpse ... 1159 words
  • Compare and THE STORY OF AN HOUR The essays ampquotTHE STORY OF AN HOURampquot 1, and ampquotA SORROWFUL WOMANampquot2, depicts the main characters, the wives, being bound by the unwanted bond of marriage. ... 689 words
  • Freak em A Sorrowful Woman After reading this story, I had a terrible time trying to come up with a song to relate to this story. But after ... 416 words

Professional Essays

  • A Sorrowful Woman What Does the No Name Woman Want in A Sorrowful Woman Introduction The fairytalelike opening of Gail Godwins p. 26 A Sorrowful Woman presents us ... 1037 words
  • Gail Godwinamp39s Sorrowful Woman What Does the No Name Woman Want in A Sorrowful Woman Introduction The fairytalelike opening of Gail Godwins p. 26 A Sorrowful Woman presents us ... 1037 words
  • Obedience in Pakistan ... The second respondent said that a womanamp39s mind is weak and she can easily ... It is a sorrowful affair that our neighbouring Muslim countries, especially Iran has ... 3174 words
  • Sorrow, Violence ampamp Medea ampamp Prufrock ... women with braceleted, white, and bare, arms, but even if the woman he loves ... If they were not tender, they would not be so hurt and sorrowful. ... 1052 words
  • Sorrow ampamp Violence in a Play ampamp a Poem ... women with braceleted, white, and bare, arms, but even if the woman he loves ... If they were not tender, they would not be so hurt and sorrowful. ... 1052 words
  • Fictional Slave Narrative ... said it was because we were worth more to them if we were healthy and content than if we were sick and sorrowful. , , Mammy was a Godfearing woman who worked ... 1721 words


Saved Paper

Save your papers so you can locate them quickly!

Newest Essays

Testimonials

  • "Thank You So Much!!! You have saved me once again!!!"
    Jack M.
  • "With so many papers to chose from, I was able to get ideas to help me with all of my classes. Thank You!"
    Brian P.
  • "I've used this site for the last 3 years to help me come up with ideas for my papers."
    Sara J.
  • "I use this site every week to help me write my own papers!"
    Rachel W.
  • "I love this site!!!"
    Marie N.
Home Join Now Support
Acceptable Use Policy About us FAQ
All papers are for research and reference purposes only!
© 2002-2009 DirectEssays.com. All Rights Reserved.