Expectation

Throughout the novel, the narrator is perpetually trapped within an impossible set of competing social, cultural, vocational, and familial expectations. When she is on stage, she is expected to perform any number of roles in an exacting and believable manner. When she is off the stage, she is expected to behave like a composed, dignified middle-aged woman with a reputable career. When she is with Tomas, she is expected to play the part of the dutiful wife, and when she is with Xavier, she is expected to be the loving, doting mother. In a sociocultural sense, the narrator is also expected to be a demure, compliant, and unwavering individual, expectations which originate from rigid gender stereotypes. The narrator is desperate to fulfill all of these roles at once. However, because she is human she feels incapable of upholding a constant performance of self to others, especially...