Date of Award
Spring 5-15-2017
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
MA English
Department
English
Advisor
Karen Gevirtz, Ph.D
Committee Member
Jonathan Farina, Ph.D
Keywords
Breastfeeding, Domestic Discourse, Domesticity, Eighteenth-Century Britain, Gender Identity, Male Authority, Maternal Authority, Maternal Body, Motherhood, Patriarchy
Abstract
In Pamela, Volume II, Pamela and her husband, Mr. B, clash over breastfeeding their child. The conflict over breastfeeding represents a contest for control over the maternal body and with it control over woman’s authority. The eighteenth-century created the concept of motherhood in order to maintain and perpetuate the patriarchy’s social, economic and sexual hierarchies. Pamela, Volume II propagates eighteenth-century domestic discourse by instructing and constructing the idea of the good wife and mother. Pamela’s failure to resist domesticity reveals patriarchy’s role in establishing gender identity. The novel functions to reinforce, strengthen and sustain eighteenth-century domestic discourse to stabilize the aristocratic patriarchy.
Recommended Citation
Pollaro, Danielle, "Becoming Pamela: The Fight for Maternal Authority in Pamela II" (2017). Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs). 2306.
https://scholarship.shu.edu/dissertations/2306
Included in
Literature in English, British Isles Commons, Other Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons
