The impact of mother-son relationships on the abandoned boy in children's literature
Year: 2019
Type: article
Abstract: Historically, children’s literature featuring abandoned boys focuses on separation from the maternal and the development of aggressive masculinity, seen as necessary for sociocultural acceptance and advancement. Using a feminist perspective, this thesis examines several transatlantic novels and argues that the boy protagonists actually exhibit maternal traits, in contrast to aggressive masculinity. As a result, these novels display a necessary female temperance over masculinity, which brings about success to the male orphan. In this way, mothers circumvent their socially prescribed secondary status to bring their true influence into the world. However, the sacrifice of mothers highlights both the problem of female sacrifice for male children and a cultural tempering of aggressive masculinity.
DOI: 10.7282/t3-br2m-cx17
Author: Atkinson, Julie
Language: English
Subfield: Literature and Literary Theory
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Gender equality
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2980988292