The terrible mother

Abstract EN

In almost all cultures, mother occupies a distinct position.

She is associated with love, sacrifice, and giving.

Although psychologists have discussed the likely negative effects the mother may leave on the personality of her children, it is rare to find men-of-letters handling the bad model of mothers perhaps because of the auras of holiness that surround mothers religiously, socially, and culturally.

Only few of those writers come close to this touchy area.

With little directness and much equivocation they depict the negative image of mother.

In the poems of Louise Bogan, Sylvia Plath, and Audre Lord, the mother is presented as cruel, indifferent, dominating and intimidating.

None of the English poets explicitly expresses her hatred of her mother and so some of them used myths and stories to express their thoughts of resentment and boredom of such bad model represented by their mothers while others preferred to express their need and love for their mothers while criticizing them as if they are putting poison in honey in order to avoid being stained with mother hatred .

In contrast to all expectations, Arab poets such as Mahmoud Abu Al-Wafa and Al-Hattayya are bolder, more direct and less shy and elusive in their speech about their mothers who are the cause of their misery; every single word and image in their poems exude resentment and ingratitude that are unusual in Arab culture.