A Feminist Reading of Victorian Children's Literature

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2021-06-30
Language
en
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This thesis explores the crossroad between the Angel in the House and the New Woman many Victorian women were on in the late nineteenth century, including authors Mary Louisa Molesworth and Edith Nesbit. The research was conducted through a deep-dive in the biographies of Molesworth and Nesbit and an in-depth analysis of the female protagonists in their children’s books The Carved Lions and The Story of the Treasure Seekers. This analysis demonstrates that Molesworth and Nesbit adopted features of the Angel in the House and the New Girl and New Woman in their personal lives and explored these stereotypes through the female protagonists in their novels. This thesis concludes that Victorian girls and women did not have to choose between Angel in the House and the New Girl or New Woman but could also adopt features and characteristics of both stereotypes.
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Faculteit der Letteren