The Other Woman

The literary portrayal of a toxic, overbearing mother-in-law is recognized as a cliché across multiple cultures and literary periods. This character reflects the pervasive negative attitude about maternal intrusion in romantic relationships. Many comedians, movies, television series, and books rely on society’s collective disapproval of this archetypal character to foster sympathy for the people and characters associated with the mother-in-law. Meddlesome mothers-in-law are typically depicted as demanding, egocentric, and overly critical, and they often resort to emotionally abusive and manipulative tactics to accomplish their goals. However, the mother-in-law’s damaging methods are never obviously or aggressively portrayed. An explanation or an underlying reason is readily available to excuse the negative behavior (i.e., a mother’s need to nurture her child).

Pammie represents the overbearing mother-in-law cliché in The Other Woman. Pammie ridicules Emily’s physical appearance, her weight, the cleanliness of her home, how many hours she works, her behavior toward Adam, and her parenting style. Pammie attempts to enforce ridiculous, domineering boundaries and becomes emotional when feeling wronged, causing those around her to console her and yield to her demands. Pammie insists Emily sleep on the couch while spending the night: “‘If you loved me and respected me, you wouldn’t have even asked.’ The tears began to flow then, slowly and quietly at first, but when Adam didn’t go to her, the sobs became louder” (51). Pammie manipulates this situation, making her and Adam’s shared love conditional on Adam’s siding with his mother in arguments. She preys upon her close bond with her children to control the people and situations around her. Pammie refuses to accept Emily as a family member and alienates her at celebrations and events. She justifies her inappropriate behavior by referring to what Pammie defines as Adam’s best interests.

Ultimately, Jones perverts the toxic mother-in-law cliché by turning Pammie into the story’s hero. In the novel’s final chapter, Pammie reveals her motives to protect Emily and Poppy. Pammie regrets not helping Rebecca, and she believes pushing Emily away from Adam could save Emily’s life. Pammie’s character evolves from a person who would do anything to protect and dote on her offspring to a character who takes the proper action to protect the innocent.

Jones uses the archetypal mother-in-law character to disguise Pammie’s true nature as a morally sound and considerate character. Pammie and Emily’s close bond depicted in the novel’s epilogue reflects contemporary literary criticism that rejects the overbearing mother-in-law cliché. Modern critics view the stereotypical toxic mother-in-law trope as sexist because no corresponding male archetype exists. In literature, fathers are often favorably portrayed as aggressively protective, especially of their daughters, yet no negative connotation exists in tandem with an overbearing father-in-law as it does with a mother-in-law. Positive mother-in-law relationships now appear more frequently in contemporary literature and society; for example, former US president Barack Obama documents a healthy, loving relationship with his mother-in-law, Marian Robinson, mainly when she lived with the Obama family at the White House (Dillner, Luisa. “Mothers-in-Law Are Lovely, in Their Place. Their Own Place, That Is.” Independent, 28 Feb. 2010).