What Kind of Woman

(Apologies for the ending of the video. The last note leads directly into the next song.)

"What Kind of Woman" is the song Mother sings when she finds the newborn child in her garden. The musical takes the passages from the novel, and expands them, giving us more of an insight into Mother's thoughts during the whole ordeal. Indeed, in some ways the musical seems to tie up loose ends, finish sentences, and give explanations for certain actions that aren't quite explained or followed through in the novel.

In the novel, we have the line "She felt keenly her husband's absence and condemned herself for so readily endorsing his travels." However, in the musical, there are several lines expanded on this feeling that Mother has. She sings, "Why in God's name is my husband not here? I'm such a fool! Why did I say he was free to go, what am I to do, where are you instructions my dear?' It's a glimpse into Mother and Father's relationship, seeing that he leaves her lists on how to take care of the house while she's gone, a fact I don't recall in the novel.

The line from the novel, "every morning these washwomen came up the hill from the trolley lie on North Avenue and fanned into the houses," is, in a sense, finished in the song.  The line in the novel is a description, whereas in the musical, Mother finishes the thought by saying, "I never stopped to think they might have lives beyond our lives." It shows how her opinion of the situation changes. At first, she can't believe that a woman could do such a thing, but then again, Mother realizes, she has no idea what other women do besides lend themselves to making her life and her family's lives better.

Now, we get the arrival of Sarah. The conversation between Mother and the policemen is almost identical to the one in the book. The only real difference is that we are told that the woman's name is Sarah right off the bat, and there's more concern over the baby.

Once Sarah has been taken care of, Mother stops to think again, this time about herself. She can't believe that she had "carried into the house a sense of misfortune, of chaos," and imagines what her husband would have done if he had been the one to deal with Sarah instead of Mother. But that still leaves Mother wondering, "What kind of woman would that have made me?"