Travelling Mothers: Motherhood in Lady Mary Montagu's and Lady Elizabeth Craven's Travel Letters
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2023-06-15
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en
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Travel and subsequentially, travel writing, became more popular in the eighteenth century. Lady Mary Montagu and Lady Elizabeth Craven both travelled through Europe and Turkey and wrote about their experiences in their epistolary travelogues. Both women were also mothers, and this part of their identity has influenced their lives and writings. This thesis investigates the influence of motherhood on their travel writing and how motherhood is expressed regarding marriage, children, and politics. Marriage gave Montagu and Craven the opportunity to travel which enabled them to criticise their own cultural norms. Montagu and Craven express their maternal affections in their letters. Different encounters with other cultures and practices can be linked to the expression of their maternal duties. Montagu and Craven also mention motherhood in a more abstract and political manner. By analysing the historical context regarding womanhood in the eighteenth century and a close reading of Montagu’s 'The Turkish Embassy Letters' and Craven’s 'A Journey Through the Crimea to Constantinople in a Series of Letters,' this thesis demonstrates that motherhood greatly influences the travel experiences and writings of Montagu and Craven.
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Faculteit der Letteren