EXCESSIVE SELF-SACRIFICE VIEWED THROUGH A FEMINIST LENS IN “A STORY FOR CHILDREN” BY SVAVA JAKOBSDOTTIR
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33884/basisupb.v12i2.10019Keywords:
Excessive Self-Sacrifice, Feminism, Motherhood, Patriarchy, Simone De BeauvoirAbstract
The aim of this study is to examine the portrayal of excessive self-sacrifice as patriarchal oppression within the home, as depicted in Svava Jakobsdottir's Story for Children. Using Simone de Beauvoir's existentialist feminist theory, the project investigates how societal expectations progressively deny the mother figure her autonomy and independence. The data source for the study is the short story itself, and the research follows a qualitative descriptive nature. The research examines that the symbolic and physical bequeathing of the mother's heart and mind to the children illustrates how patriarchal cultures kill the female subject. Despite the mother's sacrifices appearing to be noble and selfless, they are unappreciated, unrecognized, and discarded once her role as a member of the family is fulfilled. This analysis concludes that the narrative is a criticism of the harmful normalization of maternal self-denial as a cultural means of limiting women's roles and agency.
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