This paper conducts a critical comparison of the correspondence of Madame de Sévigné, Empress Marie-Thérèse of Austria and Joséphine Bonaparte. These women instruct their daughters through a writerly exchange that implements a remarkably similar use of language that indicates a “performance” of her maternal role, meant to implement a personal or political agenda that requires the daughter’s acknowledgement and reciprocation. This project explores theories of speech acts and subjectivity to conduct a literary analysis of the construction of the maternal figure in a historical context, its representation in the letters of each woman with their daughters, the motivations for a “performance” of the maternal role, and the subsequent characterization, reaction, and liberation of the daughter’s voice.
Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UMASS/oai:scholarworks.umass.edu:theses-1965 |
Date | 01 January 2012 |
Creators | Moreland, Meagen E |
Publisher | ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst |
Source Sets | University of Massachusetts, Amherst |
Detected Language | English |
Type | text |
Format | application/pdf |
Source | Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014 |
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