Arellano 1

Lizette Arellano
Professor Eisel
World Literature
3 June 2014
Outline
Thesis Statement: The short story, The Daydreams of a Drunk Woman by Clarice
Lispector, depicts the value of self-image in a masochistic world that is dominated by
social standing.
I. Lispector describes the woman, Maria Quitera, who poses as neither the protagonist nor
the antagonist of the story, as an alcoholic who self-pities herself.
A.
Marias indifference towards her husband reveals there is no real
relationship between them besides the one on paper.
B.
Maria believes in her drunken stupor that she serves no real purpose than to
simply bear children.
C.
She [Maria] avoided examining his [husbands] suit to see whether it
needed brushinglittle did she care if this was his day for attending to his business
in the city. But when he bent over to kiss her, her capriciousness crackled like a dry
II.

leaf (810).
Alongside her self-pity, Maria also loathes herself as she crudely insults other
women that pose as a parallel to Maria herself which reveals that she feels she has
no social standing.
A. Though Maria views herself as very low she does not admit it out loud, she
does inwardly asserts the situation of the fishwife (813).
B. A fat lot of good her hypocrisy would do her, and she had better watch out
in case her airs and good graces proved her undoing (812). This quote
asserts the idea that Maria does in fact see herself in this woman as a
woman who gleams like a false coin.

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III. Marias little understanding of her place in this world is what drives her alcoholic
behavior.
A. This character knows not of what she is meant to be doing and is often
plagued with the idea that she is limited do to her being a woman of the
middle class.
B. Her daydreams are never acted upon and perhaps it is because the author
wishes to show that actually acting on her thoughts is not what is expected
of her and surpasses the social norms.
C. This narcissistic woman realizes the inconsistency of her marriage and the
displeasure in her life and finds solace in her alcoholism.
D. She was in loveWho knows, this sometimes happened, and without any
guilt or injury for either partner (810-811).

Lizette Arellano
Professor Eisel
World Literature
3 June 2014
The Daydreams of a Drunk Woman Essay
Cultural norms have often played a role in literary movements, whether it be the
social standings or the gender roles that men and women have to fulfill. The short story
The Daydreams of a Drunk Woman by Clarice Lispector reflects these ideas through the
perspective of neither the protagonist nor the antagonist, Maria Quitera. Maria Quitera is a
housewife on the edge that searches for her place in the world. It is insinuated by Lispector
that Maria marries to escape poverty which causes her to feel resentment towards her
husband and their loveless marriage. Plagued by the idea that Maria is wedged in a
relationship where she only has one purpose she finds herself day to day in a drunken

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stupor that causes her to search for someone to blame for her troubles. This first half of the
story where Maria engages in finding different constructions of herself builds towards her
final epiphany in which she comes to the conclusion that her position as a wife is what
impedes her from discovering her true self. The story concludes with neither Maria
confronting the truth, nor freeing herself from her shackles.
The story, The Daydreams of a Drunk Woman by Clarice Lispector, depicts the
value of self-image in a masochistic world that is dominated by social standing.
Lispector describes Maria Quitera, as an alcoholic who self-pities herself. Marias
belief that she serves no real purpose but to bear children is what causes her to think low of
herself. The 1960s world in which Maria lives in serves as a cage that she believes holds
her back from being anything besides a housewife. What Maria believes is her job as a
wife is to perform wifely duties that include cleaning and bearing children. However, in
her drunken state as her husband bends to kiss her, she turns and rejects him. She [Maria]
avoided examining his [husbands] suit to see whether it needed brushinglittle did she
care if this was his day for attending to his business in the city. But when he bent over to
kiss her, her capriciousness crackled like a dry leaf this shows how Maria shows little to
no care in the world of fulfilling her duty as a wife (810). The relationship between Maria
and her husband seems to only exist on paper which allows her to procure financial
security that she can only attain through a marriage with someone above her social class.
Marias on the edge at the realization that she is stuck in this position and finds no solace
within herself at the idea that she serves no real purpose.
Alongside that, Maria loathes herself in this masochistic world that she concludes
will be her undoing. At dinner with her husband, Maria sees a woman that she self

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identifies with but does not outwardly state it but chooses to crudely insult that woman that
poses as a parallel to Maria herself. Though Maria views herself as very low she does not
admit it out loud, she does inwardly asserts the situation of the fishwife (813). In Marias
drunken rampage she scolds herself as she insults the woman, A fat lot of good her
hypocrisy would do her, and she had better watch out in case her airs and good graces
proved her undoing (812). This quote asserts the idea that Maria does in fact see herself in
this woman, as a woman who gleams like a false coin, as a person who has no say in the
life she is forced upon. Maria believes that similar to the woman, she had to attain a
position in society by marrying above her.
Lispector asserts Marias little understanding of her place in this world is what
drives her alcoholic behavior in this story and causes her to realize her predicament as a
woman in a 1960s society. Maria knows not of what she is meant to be doing and is often
plagued with the idea that she is limited do to her being a woman of the middle class. Her
daydreams are never acted upon and perhaps it is because the author wishes to show that
actually acting on her thoughts is not what is expected of her and surpasses the social
norms. This narcissistic woman realizes the inconsistency of her marriage and the
displeasure in her life and finds solace in her alcoholism. In the middle of the story
however, Maria believes that perhaps there is such a thing as a loving marriage, She was
in loveWho knows, this sometimes happened, and without any guilt or injury for either
partner (810-811). Marias diffident conviction is followed by a sardonic laugh as she
admonishes her claim believing that the man whom she so ardently despises is what she
must settle for and nothing more.

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As the story unravels with an ambiguous ending that shows no real epiphany with
Maria it does reveal several other factors that could possibly make the reader pity her.
Marias struggle to find her identity in this world is barred by her self-pity and social
standing as a woman. This story reveals the worth of self-image in a world and time in
which men rule and social standing is everything. Lispector reveals that through Marias
situation, she finds herself blaming not only herself but those around her and the existential
dilemma that Maria feels and fails to understand.

Works Cited
Lispector, Clarice. Daydreams of a Drunk Woman. Trans. Giovanni Pontiero The Norton
Anthology of World Literature. Ed. Martin Puchner. 3rd ed. Vol. F. New York:
Norton, 2012. Print.