Irene’s Patriarchal Mothering
Anna, touching her pearls with an undecided hand, said: “We can‟t all just sit around.”
“I don‟t see why not.” “We can‟t all three sit around. It gets me down. You don‟t seem to
know what it‟s like.”
“But she goes to bed at ten.” The, 24 Thomas considers Portia as the obedient girl because she always shows her good
manner to Thomas. Anna who finds the diary is suspicious to Portia‟s real characters, as she says:
“Well, it never is ten, as you know. I cannot stand being watched. She watches us.”
“I cannot see why she should.” “I partly see. Anyhow, she makes us not alone.” The, 24
For Anna, Portia is quite tricky because she can make people pity her. Similar to Irene, Portia is successful to create a problem in Quaynes family because of her
sly and innocent characters. In addition, Irenes similarity to Portia is also reflected from St. Quentins
statement: How very unlike Thomas The, 10 St. Quentin is a familys friend of Thomas and Anna. He usually visits and spends his time with Thomas and
Anna in Windsor Terrace. In one conversation with Anna, she tells him about Portias secret diary. The content of diary changes St. Quentins perspective about
Portias character, as it is reflected from his conversation with Anna below: “She said more about your being always polite. She does not seem to
think you are a snake in the grass, though she sees a good deal of grass for a snake to be in. There does not seem to be a single thing that she
misses, and there‟s certainly not a thing that she does not mis- construct. … The, 9
Knowing himself is watched and observed by Portia leads St. Quentin to judge Portias character. He does not see the similar characters between Portia and
Thomas, her step brother. It looks like that St. Quentin assumes that Portia will have the same characters as Thomas since they have a familial bond. St. Quentins
assumption about dissimilarity between Portia and Thomas is strengthened by Anna. Anna argues that Portia and Thomas dissimilarity is the effect of different
mothers that nurture them, as it is inferred from Anna and St. Quentins conversation below:
“How very unlike Thomas” St. Quentin said suddenly. “What is?”
“She must be, I mean.” “Very. But look what different mothers they had. And poor Mr.
Quayne, quite likely, never counted for much.” The, 10
Annas argument indicates Irene as an influential figure in constructing Portias characters. Despite the fact that Portia and Thomas have the same father, Portias
characters are not inherited from her father. It is the influence of Irenes role as the primary caregiver that forms the symbiotic relation between Portia and Irenes
image in mirror stage. Symbiotic relation and imaginary unity then organize the identical character between Irene and Portia.
Since Portias identity is similar to Irene, she becomes Irenes reflection. This issue is especially highlighted when Portia is compared to Thomas. Being
different from Portia, Thomas shows his authoritative character. Living in a modern family, his life is well-ordered and monotonous, just like his mother, Mrs.
Quayne. Quaynes family lives in an unnatural living situation that makes their life seem too stiff and gloomy. So, differences between Portia and Thomas affirm that
characters and self-conviction are constructed by their mother. From Anna and St. Quentins conversation, it can be underlined that a mother will be the main model
for her daughter. So, in Portia‟s case, Irene becomes a powerful subject and erotic object for
Portia because of her primary position in childrearing practice. Mothers duty to nurture and be responsible for her daughters life allows the mother to be the one
who controls and manage her daughters life. Patriarchal mothering makes Portia
dependent to Irene‟s figure. 3.1.2 The Effect of Irene’s Oppressive Experience for the Mothering Process
Further, this study finds the interesting fact about the construction of Irenes characters itself. Irenes characters are actually constructed and affected by her
experience and knowledge of being an oppressed woman. In this novel, Irenes psychological condition influences the mothering process and the imposition of
her desire to Portia. It is stated by Flax that since the mothers psychological development occurs under patriarchy, it will make an imprint upon her feelings
about being a woman and a mother.
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There is a phase in Irenes life which makes her escape from the relation with other people, especially from Quaynes family
Thomas and Anna. Committing adultery isolates Irene and Mr. Quayne from social life. Irene is also detested by Quaynes family, especially by Thomas. Even
though Thomas and his mother never show their anger and dislike to Irene verbally, their offensive reaction to Mr. Quayne reflects their rejection to Irenes
existence.
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Flax, “The Conflict between Nurturance and Autonomy in Mother-Daughter Relationships and within Feminism”, p. 4
It is narrated by Bowen that Mrs. Quayne Thomas‟ mother divorces and expels her husband to Irene. Implicitly, Mrs. Quaynes permission for her husband
to marry Irene seems to show her kindness to Irene and Mr. Quayne. In fact, that permission actually indicates her rejection to Irenes existence. Matchett a family
servant in Quaynes house, who becomes a witness to the incident, tells Portia the truth:
“He was sent away, as cook or I might have been— but oh no, we suited her too well. She stood by while Mr. Thomas put him into the
car and drove him off as if he had been a child. What a thing to make Mr. Thomas do to his own father And then look at the way your father
and mother lived, with no place in the world and nobody to respect them. He had been respected wherever he was. Who put him down to
that?” The, 52 Matchett clearly describes the heartlessness of Thomas and his mother who drives
out Mr. Quayne from Windsor Terrace. Their action is like a punishment to Irene in which she must spend her life living with poor Mr. Quayne.
Irene‟s emotional condition is actually affected by her guiltiness to Quayne‟s family. It is described in the novel how Irene actually regrets her mistake for doing
something bad to Thomas and his mother. The, 52 Therefore, Irene cannot bear her prejudice to Quayne‟s family, especially for Anna. It is described by Bowen
that Thomas, his mother, and Anna never visits Mr. Quayne after they kick him out from Windsor Terrace. For Irene, it reflects Quayne‟s rejection and mockery
toward their miserable life, as it is described by Portia: “I liked them for making Father proud. But when I was with Mother, I
had to forget them — you see, they were a sort of trouble to her. She
thought Anna laughed at how we lived.” The, 55 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
The expulsion from Thomas and his mother brings differences toward Irene‟s life. She, who is ever so tough to face the life, finally becomes so depressed with her
life. Ire ne has fear about her life, especially of Portia‟s future. Rejection from
Quayne‟s family oppresses Irene‟s emotional condition in which she becomes frightened to meet them over again. Besides that, Quaynes refusal to Irene will
also affect her emotional condition as a mother. Irene, who has been haunted by Quaynes mockery, estranges and protects herself and Portia from the relation with
Quaynes family so that they will not get bad treatment from them. Moreover, Irene is not only oppressed by Thomas and his mother, but also
by her husband. It is found in The Death of the Heart that all family‟s rules are
managed by Mr. Quayne. A place for living, for instance, is decided by Mr. Quayne. Mr. Quayne‟s decision to bring his family lives in a small hotel makes
them have limited access to social life. A hotel is a non-place because it creates neither singular identity nor relations; only solitude and similitude.
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Actually, people need to communicate and socialize with others. Unfortunately, living in a
small h otel makes people pay no attention to other people‟s business, as Portia
says: “If you always live in hotels,” said Portia to Major Brutt, “you get
used to people always coming and going. They look as though they‟d be always there, and then the next moment
you‟ve no idea where they‟ve gone, and they‟ve gone for ever. It‟s funny, all the same.”
The, 32
Portia‟s story represents a problem of the limited socialization process in the hotel. This place becomes the symbol of limitation toward Irene and Portias self-
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D. Lynn O‟Brien Hallstein and Andrea O‟Reilly. Academic Motherhood in a Post-Second Wave Context: Challenges, Strategies, and Possibilities. ed. Bradford: Demeter Press. 2012, p.
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freedom. Living in a hotel hinders Irenes chance to build the relationship with others. It makes her concentrate only to childrearing practice and to focus her
attention to Portia. She makes few interactions with others and less chance to express herself in social life.
To concentrate only on childrearing practice provides Irene to stay close to Portia. Her bad experience of being oppressed by Quaynes family also constructs
her desire to keep Portia away from a social relationship with others. She does not want Portia to be oppressed or humiliated by Quaynes family. Nancy
Chodorow argues that due to socially constructed gender binaries, mothers experience their daughters as like, and sons as unlike themselves.
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Knowing the difficulty of being an oppressed woman, Irene decides to protect Portia from
the repetition of Quayne‟s oppression. Moreover, Irene‟s protection to Portia is also triggered by their close
relation and unity which is constructed during childrearing practice. Since Irene is demanded by her husband to be the one who nurtures Portia, emotional tie
between them is built. Strong emotional tie between them makes Irene difficult to leave bond relation with Portia. It is inferred from the novel that Irene‟s effort to
keep Portia away from Windsor Terrace Thomas‟ house is by hiding her
husband letters. She puts it away in her glove-box till she died herself. The, 10 Mr. Quayne writes a letter to Thomas, asking him to take care of Portia after his
death. Meanwhile, Irene hides the letter because she is afraid that Portia will be oppressed by Quaynes family. This condition reflects the effect of patriarchal
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Veronica. L. Schanoes. Fairy Tales, Myth, and Psychoanalytic Theory. Burlington: Ashgate. 2014, p. 40
motherhood that forms the symbiotic relation between Irene and Portia and activates the difficulty of mother-daughters separation.
Further, the effect of patriarchal motherhood for Irenes mothering process is that she hinders Portia from the social relationships with other people. Portia is
not allowed to socialize with other people. She only recognizes Irenes desire, love, and pleasure which later construct her self-conviction. In a conversation with
Thomas, Portia tells him a joyous moment with Irene while they live in a small hotel:
“It might be if you had ever lived in a house. But Mother and I got fond of it, in some ways. We used to make up stories about the people
at dinner, and it was fun to watch people come and go. Sometimes, we
got to know some of the other people.” The, 22 It is seen from Portia‟s story that she and Irene only observe people‟s behavior
and make an opinion about those people. They make less contact with other people. It is also highlighted by Bowen that both Irene and Portia rarely deal with
social life and situation. The, 38 This situation makes Portia have lacking knowledge about social norms and rules.
While Irene hinders Portias progress to learn and socialize with society, Portia becomes dependent on Irenes love. Portia just needs Irenes existence and
love. A mother-daughters bond relationship forms Portias desire which is then followed by the emergence of pleasure. It is seen from the novel that Portia does
not encounter any difficulties to live in a small hotel because Irene provides a pleasant atmosphere for her. During their life in small village in Swiss, for
instance, Irene and Portia spend most of their time enjoying the nature and their surroundings, such as walking down the village street, running away and spending
afternoon in their crag, lying down covered with coats, smelling the wet woodwork, and reading aloud to each other the Tauchnitz novels.
The, 22-23 Those activities create pleasure to Portia and it makes her neglect the importance
of socialization process with other people. Portias neglect for the importance of socialization process represents Irenes
successful in protecting her from the repetition of the oppressive situation from others. Even though the protection keeps Portia away from others oppression, it
actually hinders Portias self-development. So, instead of helping Portia be a mature woman, Irenes fear and anxiety about past experience limit Portias
development to recognize her surrounding.