Negotiating Motherhood in Nineteenth-Century American Literature

By examining maternal figures in the works of diverse authors such as Harriet Beecher Stowe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, and Sarah Piatt, this book exposes the contentious but fruitful negotiations that took place in the heart of the American sentimental era - negotiations about the cultural meanings of family, womanhood, and motherhood.

Mary McCartin Wearn is an Assistant Professor of English at Macon State College. She has published articles on Adrienne Rich, Harriet Jacobs, and Sarah Piatt. Her research focuses on cultural constructions of motherhood, particularly in nineteenth-century America Literature.

Introduction 1. "Stronger Than All Was Maternal Love": Maternal Idealism in Uncle Tom's Cabin 2. No More "The Pillow of Affection": Deconstructing the "Softening Influence" of Motherhood in The Scarlet Letter 3. "Links . . . Of Gold": The Bonds of Motherhood in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl 4. "She Has Been Burning Palaces": The Maternal Poetics of Sarah Piatt. Conclusion