The Meaning of the Maternal Image in the Children’s Literature by Edith Nesbit

Abstract

The article discusses the way the maternal figure is portrayed by Edith Nesbit, one of the most celebrated children`s author. Throughout much Victorian literature, motherhood was exemplified as a center of morality and virtue. At the same time Nesbit was content with trying on the image of «the new woman». As a result, the representation of mothers in her books is quite ambiguous; they incorporate both the features of angelic femininity and of a new feminist ideal with regenerative power. As E. Nesbit`s relationship with her mother was complex, she subconsciously looked for mother substitute and expressed it in a metaphorical way in her children`s literature.