THE CONFLICT BETWEEN A MOTHER'S NEED AND HER DUTY: A FEMINIST ANALYSIS OF THE FIFTH CHILD BY DORIS LESSING

Abstract

Doris Lessing is most widely regarded as one of English literature's most celebrated
contemporary female writers. She is much interested in the position of women in society and
their role in improving it. Unlike other feminist writers who advocate gender equality, Lessing's
feminism is primarily concerned with defending women in the context of the various social
pressures they face in a given society. It is the feminism of an unusual kind. It is a new form of
feminism that is called implicit feminism. The Fifth Child is one of Lessing's novels in which she
adopts the implicit feminist approach in portraying Harriet Lovatts’ character. Harriet Lovatt
wishes to live a free life, defying marriage conventions and maternal life in the 1960s by
marrying David and having a large family. As a result, her society uses her as a scapegoat for
deviating from the accepted norms. She emerges as a pleased, dedicated wife and a mother of
four children in the beginning. However, she has to suffer as a result of the unplanned arrival of a
fifth child. Being the mother of a fifth child who is abnormal, Harriet's struggle has become more
significant. She finds herself in a dilemma split between her duties as a wife of a loving husband
and her needs as a mother due to the unplanned arrival of this abnormal fifth child. Harriet's
predicament has become significant because she is condemned not only by the people of the
outer society but also by the family members, including the father and the siblings. Harriet must
adapt to her situation on both levels, and in doing so, she must overcome many difficulties in
constructing a new self. In a nutshell, Lessing wants to emphasize how any woman who wants to
live on her own is exacerbated simply by deviating from the prevailing norms in her community.