Mothering Daughters: Novels and the Politics of Family Romance Frances Burney to Jane Austen [Hardcover]

Susan C. Greenfield (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2002

An examination of the mother-daughter bond in eighteenth-century fiction.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

The rise of the novel and of the ideal nuclear family was no mere coincidence, argues Susan C. Greenfield in this fascinating look at the construction of modern maternity. Many historians maintain that the eighteenth century witnessed the idealization of the caring, loving mother. Here Greenfield charts how the newly emerging novels of the period, in their increasing feminization, responded to and helped shape that image, often infusing it with more nuance and flexibility. By the end of the eighteenth century, she notes, novels by women about missing mothers and their suffering daughters abounded. Even as the political implications of the novels vary, the books uniformly insist on the tenacity of the mother-daughter bond despite the mother's absence. Exploring the historically contingent assumptions about maternal care that informed writers during this period, Greenfield argues that women's novels helped construct the story of mother love and loss that psychoanalysis would soon inherit.

About the Author

Susan C. Greenfield is associate professor of English at Fordham University. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Wayne State Univ Pr (February 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0814329926
• ISBN-13: 978-0814329924
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,852,742 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.