Adrienne Richs Of Woman Born †The End of Motherhood Essay -- Adrienn

Of adult female Born The End of M otherwisehood   In Of Woman Born, Adrienne Rich in effect weaves her own story into a convincing account of what it means to establish a mother within the bonds of patriarchal culture. Her conclusion that the institution of motherhood, which she distinguishes from motherhood, must be destroyed in order to release the creation and documentation of life into the same realm of decision, struggle, surprise, imagination, and conscious intelligence, as any other difficult, but freely chosen work is substantiated by her courageous exculpation that contradicts culturally normative notions of motherhood. Allowing readers to glimpse her own story as she distressingly evaluates her role as mother side by side with historic accounts of other womens experiences provides an avenue for understanding that leads to compassion. By the final chapter, instead of falling into the expected trap of revulsion toward Joanne Michulskis heinous crime, Richs e mpathy provides the reader with the insight to earn both the complexity of Michulskis situation and to feel comp...