Maternal Memory and Murder in Early-Seventeenth-Century England
Department
English
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Winter 2008
Abstract
This article argues that the depiction of murderous mothers in three early-seventeenth-century texts both contests and expands earlier notions of motherhood and female power by highlighting the effects of maternal memory. The pamphlet (1616) and broadside (1624) I examine both stress the disruptive potential of the forgetting of maternal duty, while the play, John Ford's Love's Sacrifice (1633), represents three mothers who remember their maternal duties through murder. All of these texts showcase a "new" mother construct where memory is the centerpiece, emphasizing the power of this ambiguous figure who can both create and destroy.
Journal Title
Studies in English Literature 1500-1900
Journal ISSN
0585-668X
Volume
48
Issue
1
First Page
111
Last Page
130
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
10.1353/sel.2008.0003
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