Female Trouble by Antonya Nelson
"Female Trouble" by Antonya Nelson is a nuanced exploration of complex relationships, identity, and emotional turmoil through the lens of McBride, a man caught in a web of romantic entanglements with three women: Daisy, Martha, and Claire. The narrative unfolds in a series of vignettes that reveal McBride’s struggles with his commitments and his own self-perception as he drifts between these women, each representing different facets of his life and emotional state. The story begins with McBride’s visits to Daisy, a former girlfriend now in a psychiatric hospital, and illustrates his conflicting feelings towards her and his current girlfriend, Martha, who is depicted as strong yet burdened by her own desires.
As the plot progresses, themes of motherhood, identity, and the consequences of emotional neglect emerge, particularly through Daisy's unexpected pregnancy and Claire's descent into suicidal thoughts. McBride’s interactions with these women force him to confront his own inadequacies and fears, culminating in a poignant realization about the complexities of love and loss. The narrative ultimately leaves McBride on a journey of self-discovery, hinting at a desire for freedom while grappling with the weight of his experiences. This story invites readers to reflect on the intricacies of human relationships and the often-unresolved conflicts that define them.
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Female Trouble by Antonya Nelson
First published: 2001, as short story; 2002, as short story collection
Type of plot: Psychological
Time of work: The late twentieth century
Locale: Tucson, Arizona
Principal Characters:
McBride , a drifter, sometime bricklayer, in his early thirtiesDaisy , his former girlfriend and county hospital patientMartha , his current girlfriendAlberta , Martha's transvestite next-door neighborClaire , a patient at the hospital with whom McBride has an affairDonatella , Daisy's baby
The Story
"Female Trouble" is told in the third person in a discursive narrative style. The plot, while straightforward, is relayed in a series of short vignettes that describe the drifter McBride's encounters with the three women with whom he is simultaneously involved: Daisy, Martha, and Claire.
The story opens in February with McBride visiting his former girlfriend, Daisy, a native New Yorker who is now a patient at the Pima County psychiatric hospital in Tucson, Arizona, following a breakdown. Visiting her disturbs both Daisy and McBride, who reflects on their past relationship, especially their sexual encounters and his inability to deal with her and with women in general.
Following his visit, McBride returns to his home, which is the house of his current girlfriend, Martha, who works for the accident victim's report section of the police department and is also a research assistant who interviews rape victims for a university research project. In contrast to Daisy, the thirty-six-year-old Martha is a capable, artistic woman whom McBride believes "lived among the bizarre in order not to feel so bizarre herself, normal by comparison." While they are talking, Martha's neighbor, a transvestite whose name is Alberta, comes out of the house in full dress, and McBride comments on how much work it must take for a man to make himself up like that. Though he lives with Martha, McBride dreams of Daisy and moments of tenderness they shared. He and Martha then begin to talk about Daisy. Though his tender memories fade, he continues to visit Daisy, who reveals to him that she is pregnant, though not with his child.
Martha accompanies McBride on his next visit to see Daisy, and the three of them sit on Adirondack chairs on the hospital grounds and talk. Martha and Daisy discuss Daisy's pregnancy and women's aging. Though Martha does not talk about it, McBride is aware that she would like to have a child.
While Martha and Daisy talk, McBride steals into Daisy's room and inspects her belongings. Another woman patient, Claire, enters the room. She asks McBride if he is also a patient and is relieved to find he is not. They smile, and Claire leaves the room. McBride looks out the window and notices that the Adirondack chairs are empty.
In the next scene, Daisy, at Martha's invitation, is staying with her and McBride. Martha explains to McBride that she has invited Daisy to stay with them because Daisy is his friend and she does not believe that Daisy is crazy, but rather simply abused and in trouble. Martha and McBride have sex, and she declares that acts of rape and love are essentially the same. However, McBride does not want to engage in the discussion. The scene ends with a pun on the word "paradox."
Martha and Daisy develop a friendship that unsettles McBride. In the summer, McBride begins sleeping with Claire, who is still at the hospital. After one sexual encounter, Claire tells McBride that he does not have to think about suicide. McBride, who up until then had not thought about suicide, often begins to think about it.
When McBride returns to Martha's house, he finds Daisy in Martha's sewing room, and they resume the struggle, both emotional and physical, of their relationship, which is one of mutual attraction and repulsion. They fight; Daisy bites McBride, and he tells her to leave. Examining his injury in the bathroom mirror, McBride realizes that his heart is pounding.
Claire, knowing McBride lives with Martha and has had a relationship with Daisy, wants him to have an exclusive relationship with her. They discuss the nature of sexual relationships, and McBride, returning to Martha, finds himself caught between his involvement with the three women and his self-confusion, which he believes to be caused by the disjunction between his sexual desires and Daisy's, Martha's, and Claire's attempts to claim him.
While visiting Claire in the hospital, McBride finds she has been put on a suicide watch. Meanwhile, Daisy, seven months pregnant, has fled Tucson. Martha and McBride search for Daisy, who eventually phones them from Phoenix. The search for Daisy involves Martha and McBride in discussions of their own relationship. Once Daisy resurfaces, Martha again takes her under her wing. McBride finds himself again caught between his own feelings and the relationship between Daisy and Martha.
Claire, who has been released from the hospital in the care of her parents, sits with them and McBride in a motel room. McBride decides to leave her and returns to Martha's house to find Daisy entertaining the transvestite. McBride once again questions the nature of his relationship with Daisy and his relationship with himself.
Daisy gives birth to a child, Donatella, whose father was apparently African American, after being helped through labor by Martha. McBride responds to Donatella's birth coldly, saying, "Reminds me of an eggplant." Martha chides him for his coldness.
After Donatella's birth, McBride learns that Claire has committed suicide. Through her parents, he receives a letter she had written to him. Holding the unopened envelope in his hands, he realizes that what he feels about women is that they are essentially a mystery he cannot explain or understand. Seeking freedom, he gets in his car, and the story ends with McBride driving out of Tucson resolving, ambiguously, not to look back.