Lispector’s character Maria seems to have had too much time on her hands while her children were away with their aunt. She begins questioning her very existence as a wife, mother, and woman, seeming to be experiencing a midlife crisis of sorts. Most importantly, Maria questions her own importance and existence in the grand scheme of things, as indicated while combing her hair, in interactions with her husband, and during her night out with her husband and his business associate.
Her dilemma with body image appears to be a recurring theme throughout the story. Particularly in the restaurant, she sees a young woman bedecked with jewelry and an eye-catching hat, and she immediately begins seething with rage towards the young woman (Lispector 1558-1559). Although she casts doubts about the young woman’s ability to bear children or be anything more than a frail wisp, Maria continually points out her own roundness. Was she perhaps feeling the strain of a more curvaceous figure after having children? Moreover, she questions her life skills while sobering up and realizing she had spent far too much time laying in bed while her children were away. She chastizes herself for being so lazy and resolves to scrub her home the next day as restitution (Lispector 1560).
All in all, Lispector’s Maria seems to have an existential crisis on her hands while realizing that she leads a rather domestic life -- rather than the grandeur she believes she deserves while drunk in the restaurant. Maria is disenchanted with the life to which she has become accustomed.
Work Cited
Lispector, Clarice. “The Daydreams of a Drunk Woman.” The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Gen. ed. Martin Puchner. Shorter Third edition. Vol. 2. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2013. 1555-1560.
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