The Bitter Reality in the Landscape for a Good Woman"For my mother, my childhood period was the place where beautiful fairy tales they failed." (47) The loss of dreams for Edna meant the loss of dreams and the fantasy world for her children. The focus on the little mermaid is appropriate. Just as Edna transforms the two girls into the tragic figure of the little mermaid by blaming their father for leaving/not leaving them, Edna continually transforms her children into tragic figures or villains by blaming them for her broken dreams. In reality, she is the pathetic and tragic figure, unable to see how her children have helped her financially. He takes his disappointments and failed dreams and dumps them on girls, as if it were their fault. Simply because of their existence, Edna often seems bothered by her daughters' existence. The fact that Kay realizes this fact so early in her life is the most distressing part of her story. Bearing the weight of this burden takes away children's ability to have their own dreams and fantasies. Their awareness of this bitter reality makes the title of this story Landscape for a Good Woman truly surprising. Both middle- and upper-class mothers have certainly heard the message all their lives that their responsibility is in the care and nurturing of their children. This certainly involves a multitude of tasks that go beyond dressing and feeding, which often result in a loss of freedom for the mother and a sense of slavery. The goal of breaking this pattern, which is expected of women and mothers in particular, has been for many decades. Being raised in a difficult environment has led Edna to naturally have an outlook on life that is very different from the standard upper-class belief that the mother sacrifices herself for her children. The emotional bonds between mother and child seem to be on the back burner as we tend to satisfy more immediate needs. Edna's standards for what it means to be a good mother are completely different than those of someone from a different class. She denies the upper class role and defines motherhood in the only way she is capable of doing so, and is not damned by those around her for the way she raises her children..