Exploring Female Reproductive Agency in Margaret Drabble's The Millstone
This paper examines Margaret Drabble's The Millstone as a critical intervention in feminist debates on reproductive agency in postwar Britain. It argues that the novel redefines motherhood not as a biologically determined role but as a consciously chosen identity shaped by lived experience, social class and institutional power. Through the protagonist Rosamund Stacey, Drabble challenges essentialist conceptions of womanhood by portraying motherhood as a site of negotiation, resistance and selfformation. Drawing on Michel Foucault's concept of disciplinary power and Judith Butler's theory of gender performativity, the paper explores how medical institutions discipline the female body and how maternal identity is performed through care and choice. By presenting diverse female experiences, Drabble challenges monolithic narratives of both motherhood and femininity.
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