Across the four generations represented by Sarah, Salome, Sally, and Sara, the theme of mother-daughter relations remains consistently strong; each woman becomes the mother of a daughter as talented and self-willed as herself, and each must cope with the powerful alteration of her emotions that occur with the birth of her daughter. Over time, however, there is a deterioration in the degree of maternal devotion each subsequent mother displays as she embraces greater personal freedoms, although the lessons that Sara learns hint towards a reversal of that decline. Sarah makes sacrifices, works harder than ever, and virtually effaces herself from her art, painting anonymously for less talented men, in order to earn a living for herself and her daughter.

She accepts a sexless marriage for the stability it will offer her child, giving up personal satisfaction in order to achieve domestic security. Salome makes only limited concessions to...