Motherhood in Regency England

Featured Image: Angelica Koffman, Countess A. S. Protasova and Her Nieces, 1788. Oil on canvas, 123 x 159cm.

Isabelle M.

Introduction

For women living in 18-Century Regency England, there were very few things they were permitted to do. One of which being motherhood. Rachel Dodge states in an article on her website, “…the majority of Austen’s mothers can be broken down into three general categories: The Spectator, the Matchmaker, and the Manager” (Dodge 1). She identifies Mrs. Bennet as a “Matchmaker” and Lady Catherine de Bourgh as a “Manager”. Both women exhibit very different styles of parenting yielding very different results. Lady Catherine is respected and feared whereas Mrs. Bennet is viewed as not very bright and obsessed with the lives and futures of her daughters. 

The Role of the Mother

Thomas Gisborne, a highly respected evangelical Anglican minister, wrote the famous religious conduct manual, An Enquiry into the Duties of the Female Sex to better inform the women of his parish of the expectations of single and married women as well as mothers. In Chapter XIV, he states clearly that the primary role of the mother is to nurse her children unless it places her own health at risk. He also describes the education and rearing of girls to be the mother’s job until they are old enough to be sent to a boarding school. Boys, however, are to be mainly influenced by their fathers or their mothers under their father’s supervision or instruction. He describes the father and husband as having a superior intellect compared to his wife and she could benefit greatly from his advice and opinion. He also encourages mothers to form personal relationships with their children in order to create an atmosphere in which they feel comfortable to confide in their mothers. This allows the mother to better understand her child and how best to improve their current state.

The Mother as a Non-biological Caregiver

According to Marilyn Francus, an english professor at West Virginia University, it is the mother’s duty to raise their daughters “properly” in order to successfully marry them off. She says in her article “The Monstrous Mothers of Mansfield Park”, “Motherhood, in Austen’s time as in ours, was not limited to a biological relationship. Any older woman who nurtured a child– including wet nurses, nannies, governesses, stepmothers, and aunts– could function as a mother” (Francus). Francus also speaks of mothers of the middle and upper classes saying they “…often delegated mothering to others; such help was commonplace and socially acceptable”. In her book, Monstrous Motherhood: 18th-Century Culture and the Ideology of Domesticity, speaks of the influence of conduct manuals among other societal factors leading to the wide belief that domesticity is “an appropriate revenue for the fulfillment of a woman’s duties to God, society, and herself” (Francus 1). She draws attention to the two biggest career opportunities to women of the eighteenth century, wife and mother. As a wife and a mother a woman would be expected to care for her children, supervise the servants, or if she had daughters who were considered “out”, like Mrs. Bennet in Pride and Prejudice, she would be responsible for their courtship and marriages.

Forms of Motherhood

Mrs. Bennet can be viewed as an affectionate mother in her care for her girls. She wants what she was conditioned to believe is best for them, which is to marry them off to men with their own fortune to be able to support her family. However, this approach is not found in every home in the 18th-century, nor is it evident in all of Austen’s novels. Genevieve Brassard writes in her academic journal article, “Austen’s Critique of Domesticity and Motherhood in Lady Susan”, “Lady Susan’s rejection of affectionate motherhood stems from her irrepressible sexuality, her desire for independence, and her resistance to domesticity and marriage throughout the novel” (Brassard). Brassard expands on the topic of Lady Susan explaining, “Austen applauds her heroine’s pursuit of freedom and rewards her maternal indifference”. This new approach to motherhood that Austen chooses to shine light upon defies the expectation of women to birth children and serve as primary caregivers. Not every woman wanted to have a child, but if she was married she was expected to follow her husband’s wishes and provide a male heir. 

Motherhood and Its Relationship to the Greater Good

The greater good can be defined as the majority of society. To contribute towards the greater good one must put the benefit of society over benefit of self. Mothers during the 18th-century were expected to participate by raising upstanding members of society who will benefit the community such as marrying to keep the wealth either in the family or contribute wealth to the family, and to be a benevolent keeper of all those in his or her charge.

Works Cited 

Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. Oxford University Press, 2008.

Brassard, Geneviève. “‘The Sacred Impulse of Maternal Devotion’: Austen’s Critique of Domesticity and Motherhood in Lady Susan.” Women’s Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal, vol. 34, no. 1, Jan. 2005, pp. 27–48. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspxdirect=true&db=mzh&AN=2005025340&login.asp&sie=ehost-live&scope=site.

Dodge , Rachel. “A Little Motherly Advice from Jane Austen’s Mothers by Rachel Dodge .” Jane Austen’s World, 13 May 2018,

janeaustensworld.wordpress.com/tag/jane-austen-mothers/.

Francus, Marilyn. “The Monstrous Mothers of Mansfield Park.” Persuasions: The Jane Austen Journal On-Line, vol. 35, no. 1, 2014.

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=mzh&AN=2015580424&login.asp&sie=ehost-live&scope=site.

Francus, Marilyn. Monstrous Motherhood: Eighteenth-Century Culture and the Ideology of Domesticity. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013.

Gainsborough, Thomas. Self-Portrait with His Wife and Daughter, 1748.

Gerard, Marguerite. Motherhood, 1805. Oil on canvas.

Gisborne, Thomas. An Enquiry into the Duties of the Female Sex. Printed by A. Strahan for T. Cadell Jun. and W. Davies, London, 1798. 

Koffman, Angelica. Countess A. S. Protasova and Her Nieces, 1788. Oil on canvas, 123 x 159cm

West, Benjamin. Mrs. Benjamin West and Her Son Raphael, 1767. Oil on canvas.

Reynolds, Joshua. Mrs. Susanna Hoare and Child, 1763-1764. Oil on canvas, 132 x 102cm.