The Politics of Motherhood by Toni Bowers
Through detailed examination of a wide variety of novels, plays, sermons, songs, popular engravings, portraiture, and propaganda from the period, Toni Bowers examines the eighteenth-century struggle to develop new ideals for virtuous womanhood. She shows how popular representations of mothers codified and enforced a model of motherhood naturally and inevitably, removed from participation in the public world, and presented other ideals as monstrous. At the same time, she points out, some of the most influential texts resisted the newly reduced vision of maternal excellence by imagining alternatives to domesticity and dependence. Addressing broader social and cultural issues, and drawing radical comparisons between past and present, Bowers argues that Western culture continues to be limited by its commitment to the contradictory maternal ideals established in eighteenth-century discourse.
"This topic is important and timely..the argument of this book is apposite because its groundwork is how motherhood has been and can be exploited to abuse or to dismiss a woman if the label bad mother is pinned on her." Ellen Moody, The East-Central Intelligencer "In this thoroughly researched and well-written book, Bowers explores represenations of motherhood in Augustan literature and culture...This book's intersting and convincing exploration of maternity as an important theme in Augustan life and literature makes it a good choice for students of social history and feminist theory as well as literature." H. Benoist, Choice "...impressively researched, passionately argues, and eloquently written..." Lois A. Chaber, Eighteenth-Century Fiction "Tony Bowers' The Politics of Motherhood: British Writing and Culture, 1680-1760...makes a crucial contribution to understanding the period, demonstrating that the late eighteenth-century ideal of the private, nurturing, domestic mother was codified at least a generation earlier. The Politics of Motherhood adds considerably to the body of work recently published on eighteenth-century maternity and sexuality..." Amanda Gilroy, The Wordsworth Circle
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780521551748 |
| ISBN 10 | 0521551749 |
| Title | The Politics of Motherhood |
| Author | Toni Bowers |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| Year published | 1996-07-13 |
| Number of pages | 278 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |