How we cite our quotes: (Part.Section.Paragraph)
Quote #4
How am I to put this together with my human life, my intellectual life, my solitude, my transcendence, my brains, and my fearful, fearful ambition? (7.5.4)
Joanna's use of the word "transcendence" is significant here. In Western philosophical and religious traditions, women have typically been associated with "immanence": i.e., the body, the drives, the instincts. Men, on the other hand, have typically claimed the realm of "transcendence": i.e., rational thinking, cognitive activity, and everything else that's said to separate "man" from "beast."
Quote #5
Do you enjoy playing with other people's children—for ten minutes? Good! this reveals that you have Maternal Instinct and you will be forever wretched if you do not instantly have a baby of your own. (7.5.5)
Why does Joanna satirize the notion of maternal instinct? Who are the healthiest and happiest mothers in this novel, and who are the most depressed?
Quote #6
Are you lonely? Good! This shows that you have Feminine Incompleteness. (7.5.6)
This may be another of the novel's subtle allusions to psychoanalysis. Thinkers like Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan argued that women were defined by "lack," specifically, their lack of a penis.