The women of Winesburgâ€"who may not whine, else the author, Sherwood
             In his critical introduction to the 1919 edition of Winesburg, Ohio,
             an anthology of interlocking short stories by the American author Sherwood
             Anderson, the critic Irwin Howe noted that Anderson had often been accused
             of "sentimentality" as an author, since the book's publication. This
             charge might seem particularly applicable to the women of Winesburg, whom
             are largely seen as virtuous daughters and wives, or conventionally daring
             women of ill repute with hearts of gold. It could be alleged that, in the
             face of such allegations, Anderson shows flashes, however brief, of a
             unique cognizance of the problems that women face because of societal
             constructions of femininityâ€"in other words, how women suffer because of how
             society expects them to behave as mothers, daughter, and spinsters. But
             these flashes, within the context of the short stories of Winesburg, are
             only flashes, and ultimately the women come to conventional, rather than
             The first extended female portrait of the tales revolve around one of
             the mothers of Winesburg, Elizabeth Willard, whom "like a chambermaid," is
             seen "listlessly" wandering about, worrying about her son's escapades with
             (http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/Sherwood_Anderson/Winesburg_Ohio/MOTHER_conc
             erning_Elizabeth_Willard_p1.html.) The hotel she and her husband runs is a
             failure, like the relationship she has with her husband for most of their
             years together. The hotel, like the relationship began promisingly, but
             like her Democratic husband's career in local, Republican-dominated
             politics, is now failing, also like the woman's ill health and smallpox-
             ridden beauty. Elizabeth dreads being seen by guests, because the house
             was once "run by her father," when it was in better condition, again, much
             Thus, the female Elizabeth is physically...