Attacking the Angel: Alternate Forms of Victorian Femininity in Elizabeth Gaskell‟s Mary Barton, Cranford, and North and South
Loading...
Authors
Frieman, Elaine Rhiannon
Issue Date
2012-08-13
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
Keywords
Femininity , Victorian , Women , History , Lower Class Femininity , Elizabeth Gaskell , Cranford , Women's History , Wives and Daughters , motherhood , child-rearing , charity , literature , novelist , non-traditional femininity
Alternative Title
Abstract
Although Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell‟s writing had a large readership in her
lifetime, she has been categorized as one of those lesser-known Victorian authors, and
has only gained significant critical attention over the past twenty years. Even then, the
popular focus has been on what critics deem her “lesser fiction” such as Cranford and
Wives and Daughters. But in all her works, Gaskell demonstrated concern for the role of
women in society and, especially, the role of the mother. She wrote a diary throughout
her children‟s childhood detailing her daily struggles and successes; additionally, she
wrote many letters on the subject of rearing her children, attending to the poor, and
household management. Because of this, many critics have holed her as a “traditional”
Victorian woman, contented with her role, and not radical enough for serious study...[Abstract Not Included - Temp]