Through four novelists from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries-Haywood, Defoe, Austen, and Chopin-this work examines the way the mother's importance evolves throughout literature. In Haywood's works, motherhood is seen as a dominant force in her child's life, but not a dominant force in society. Defoe approaches motherhood in a dramatically different way; for him, motherhood is secondary to financial security, and this opinion is reflected in the lives and actions of his characters. In spite of the absence of a maternal influence, Austen's characters do not experience true hardship in the way that Haywood's and Defoe's do. However, their lives are adversely affected by this absence. Chopin's protagonist has never experienced a maternal influence, and this absence has dramatically affected her life. She is unsure about what she wants from life, and this knowledge, along with her realization of society's restrictions upon her, ultimately leads to her suicide.

殷樱. / Thesis submitted in: November 2009. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 133-143). / Abstracts in Chinese and English. / Yin Ying. / Chapter 一、 --- 导论 --- p.2 / Chapter 1.1 --- 新时期以降女性文学批评母性主题的研究概述 --- p.2 / Chapter 1.2 --- 母性概念梳理 --- p.10 / Chapter 1.3 --- 铁凝背景与创作 --- p.16 / Chapter 1.4 --- 前人研究综述 --- p.21 / Chapter 1.5 --- 研究问题与方法 --- p.30 / Chapter 1.6 --- 章节安排 --- p.32 / Chapter 二、 --- 《麦秸垛》´ؤ´ؤ在理想与现实中摆荡 --- p.35 / Chapter 2.1 --- “自然母性´ح的内涵及其在铁凝小说中的表现 --- p.35 / Chapter 2.2 --- 故事简介与前人分析 --- p.37 / Chapter 2.3 --- 对“自然母性´ح的认同与疏离 --- p.42 / Chapter 2.4 --- 母性内涵的扩延 --- p.50 / Chapter 2.5 --- 与同时期母性主题创作的比较 --- p.56 / Chapter 2.6 --- 小结 --- p.58 / Chapter 三、 --- 混色“玫瑰´ح一一 “恶母´ح话语再审视 --- p.60 / Chapter 3.1 --- 新时期文学批评的“恶母´ح话语 --- p.60 / Chapter 3.2 --- 故事简介与前人分析 --- p.64 / Chapter 3.3 --- 挣扎在“觉醒´ح与“陷落´ح之间 --- p.68 / Chapter 3.4 --- 子辈对母辈的疏离与认同 --- p.79 / Chapter 3.5 --- 身体与母性 --- p.86 / Chapter 3.6 --- 小结 --- p.92 / Chapter 四、 --- “徘徊´ح产生的文化语境与九十年代铁凝的母性书写 --- p.94 / Chapter 4.1 --- 新启蒙主义思潮对八十年代铁凝小说母性主题的影响 --- p.94 / Chapter 4.2 --- “择善固执´ح的价值观与现实主义创作手法 --- p.101 / Chapter 4.3 --- “善´ح的伦理价值观自身的模糊与犹疑之处 --- p.112 / Chapter 4.4 --- 小结 --- p.122 / Chapter 五、 --- 总结 --- p.124 / Chapter 5.1 --- 综合分析与回顾 --- p.124 / Chapter 5.2 --- 《麦秸垛》与《玫瑰门》中的母性内涵 --- p.127 / Chapter 5.3 --- 铁凝小说母性书写的意义与贡献 --- p.129 / Chapter 5.4 --- 研究意义与展望 --- p.131 / 附录一 --- p.133 / 附录二 --- p.136 / 参考文献 --- p.138

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Western Australia, 2006. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Feb. 9, 2008). Includes bibliographical references (p. 246-263).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2004. / Supervisor: Katherine Arens. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

"June 2003." / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 280-300). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese.

Not available / text

The scholars who assert that motherhood acquires new favor in the early modem period and the critics who contend that male subjectivity and patriarchy in Shakespeare's plays depend on the repudiation of the mother both base their perspectives on an understanding of motherhood which is too monolithic. To contribute to a more historically specific understanding, I draw on the work of numerous historians and examine humanist and reformist writings, the Corpus Christi cycles, and two Shakespearean plays. I find that the medieval "calculative" and "incarnational" versions of motherhood enabled women to exercise considerable control over their sexuality and fertility and clout in their families and communities, and that the Corpus Christi cycles served as a mechanism to extend multiple facets of these versions of the maternal. While the early modern period inherited the expansive, medieval versions of motherhood, the "new," restrictive form of motherhood advocated by the humanists and reformers helped to devalue the inherited forms, promote a greater spiritual, physical, and economic dependence of women on men, and enlarge the scope of the paternal at the expense of the maternal. My examination of Macbeth demonstrates that the play employs Scottish history so as to heighten attention to the risks produced by Elizabeth I's and James I's adaptations of the competing versions of motherhood available in the early modern period. It suggests that James's adaptation is especially conducive to instability, since it generates a contradiction in the hereditary system of political power-the simultaneous need for and exclusion of women/mothers. This contradiction coupled with the diminution of the feminine/maternal makes it more likely that murder will be construed as an alternative means of being "born" into the succession. Whereas Macbeth shifts from constructions more aligned with incarnational and calculative mothers to constructions more affiliated with new mothers, Coriolanus appears nearly throughout to be informed by the contest over motherhood. By exploring this contest, I add to the understanding of the economic, political, familial, and theatrical aspects of the play, and make it possible to suggest that Coriolanus demonstrates peace is achieved when a version of motherhood resembling the expansive, medieval forms is embraced.

The scholars who assert that motherhood acquires new favor in the early modem period and the critics who contend that male subjectivity and patriarchy in Shakespeare's plays depend on the repudiation of the mother both base their perspectives on an understanding of motherhood which is too monolithic. To contribute to a more historically specific understanding, I draw on the work of numerous historians and examine humanist and reformist writings, the Corpus Christi cycles, and two Shakespearean plays. I find that the medieval "calculative" and "incarnational" versions of motherhood enabled women to exercise considerable control over their sexuality and fertility and clout in their families and communities, and that the Corpus Christi cycles served as a mechanism to extend multiple facets of these versions of the maternal. While the early modern period inherited the expansive, medieval versions of motherhood, the "new," restrictive form of motherhood advocated by the humanists and reformers helped to devalue the inherited forms, promote a greater spiritual, physical, and economic dependence of women on men, and enlarge the scope of the paternal at the expense of the maternal. My examination of Macbeth demonstrates that the play employs Scottish history so as to heighten attention to the risks produced by Elizabeth I's and James I's adaptations of the competing versions of motherhood available in the early modern period. It suggests that James's adaptation is especially conducive to instability, since it generates a contradiction in the hereditary system of political power-the simultaneous need for and exclusion of women/mothers. This contradiction coupled with the diminution of the feminine/maternal makes it more likely that murder will be construed as an alternative means of being "born" into the succession. Whereas Macbeth shifts from constructions more aligned with incarnational and calculative mothers to constructions more affiliated with new mothers, Coriolanus appears nearly throughout to be informed by the contest over motherhood. By exploring this contest, I add to the understanding of the economic, political, familial, and theatrical aspects of the play, and make it possible to suggest that Coriolanus demonstrates peace is achieved when a version of motherhood resembling the expansive, medieval forms is embraced. / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate

Literary scholars have been examining and recreating the experiences of “bonded” female characters within Toni Morrison’s novels for decades. However, the distinct experiences of these enslaved women, that are also mothers have not been astutely examined by scholars and deserves more attention. My thesis fleshes out the characterization of several of Morrison’s bonded-mothers and identifies them as a part of a developing controlling image and theory, called the bondmother. Situating these characters within this category allows readers to trace their journeys towards freedom and personal redemption. This character tracing will occur by examining the following Toni Morrison novels: Beloved (1987) and Paradise (1997). In order to fully examine the experiences of these characters it will be necessary for me to expand the definition of bondage and mother. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Thesis (M.A.)--James Madison University, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.