LUX MONTIS Vol. III No. I January 2015 AN ANALYSIS OF THE MOTHER- DAUGHTER RELATIONSHIP IN DORRIS LESSING’S MARTHA QUEST Dr Soumya Jose Assistant Professor in English, ( English Division I), School of Social Sciences and Languages Vellore Institute of Technology University, Vellore. Tamilnadu 632014 e.mail:
[email protected] Dr. Sony Jalarajan Raj Assistant Professor, Faculty of Fine Arts & Communication, MacEwan University 7-166C City Centre Campus 10700 104 Avenue NW, Edmonton, AB T5J 4S2 , Canada e.mail:
[email protected] ABSTRACT Mother-daughter relationship is the most symbiotic of all human relationships. The influence that a mother wields on her daughter can be either positive or negative. Mothers need to involve in the personal life of a female child till she attains puberty and thereafter should provide a personal space for her daughter where she can develop her personality. The over-concern of a mother for her daughter can be detrimental to her daughter’s life. The stifling maternal love can spoil a grown up daughter’s life. This chapter attempts to analyze Dorris Lessing’s Martha Quest in the light of the Greek mythological story of Demeter and Persephone. INTRODUCTION Demeter and Persephone’s relationship can be defined as mirroring relationship as Demeter does not want Persephone to have an identity beyond that of being a daughter. The stifling affection that Demeter has for her daughter makes her forget that Persephone is an individual a different identity. Demeter wishes to see a mirror image of her in Persephone. The trope of mirroring mothers has appeared in different genres of literature and ‘night Mother, by the acclaimed American playwright, Marsha Norman, portrays such a mirroring mother-daughter relationship that leads to the death of the protagonist, Jessie.