Mental Disorders In Gail Godwin's A Sorrowful Woman

In the time of stereotypical white picket fences and quaint little American families mental illness were shunned to keep the appearance of a desirable household. Within the large majority of families in the mid-20th century women were pressured by society to fit into the role of household wife. This forced many women to develop mental issues due to isolation and limiting their full potential. In response to these pressing nuances many took drugs in order to uphold appearance. In the story A Sorrowful Woman by Gail Godwin these stereotypes are present and push the wife to limit which tragically results in her death. The pressure to conform to “suburban” stereotypes suppressed the underlying mental issues that many families had to endure during the mid-20th century.

The philosophy surrounding the suburbs is highly dependent on gender roles where men are the financial providers and women stay at …show more content…
Just before the woman died she had reached the limit trying to conform to the stereotype where her anxiety pushed her over the edge. She was so used to being held back from making any decisions that when faced with writing a sonnet, “she put down the pen on top of the pad” showing that any decision caused difficulty and pushed her beyond her ability (Godwin 3). As Allan Horwitz studied the evolution of anxiety of that time to depression today, he found that a large part of society had been diagnosed with a variety of mental illnesses under the label “anxiety.” The “demand and pace of modern condition[s] of life…caused ‘stress,’ ‘nerves,’ and ‘tension’” all which push people to their limits (114). The woman is an example of how women specifically were pressured to conform to the American stereotypes which for a great deal of people was too much. In order to keep up with the demands of the house and other demands women needed something to keep their decorum; prescription