Description
Book SynopsisA Mother's Love: Crafting Feminine Virtue in Enlightenment France chronicles the emegence of an idealized mother figure whose reforming zeal sought to make French society more just. Lesley H. Walker contends that this attempt during the eighteenth century to 'rewrite' social relations in terms of greater social equality represents an important but overlooked strand of Enlightenment thought. During this period, popular domestic novels, the ever-raging debates about women's social roles, and highly sought-after genre paintings produced a remarkable image of motherhood. Through a focus on feminine virtue, Walker studies female writers and artists to argue that these women theorize the domestic sphere as a site of significant social and ethical productivity.
Trade Review'Lesley Walker's ably executed interdisciplinary study is a welcome contribution to the field of maternal discourse: it is well worth the reading.' -- Antoinette Sol, University of Texas at Arlington * New Perspectives on the Eighteenth Century, Spring 2009 *
