Mistresses, Maids, and Maternalism: Representations of Gendered Cross-Class Relationships in Victorian British Writing, 1834-1901

Abstract/Contents

Abstract: This interdisciplinary thesis combines sociological theory, critical methods, and digital humanities methods, taking a unique approach to investigating the cross-class relationships between middle- and working-class women in Victorian Britain. It focuses on one of the few situations in which there was sustained contact between the two groups of women—within the middle-class home as mistresses or servants. The historical relationships between the women are analyzed using sociological theories, particularly the concept of maternalism. Moreover, due to the circular relationship between printed writing and society, an investigation of mistress/maid representations in two different types of Victorian writing—domestic how-to manuals and novels—serves to provide a broader perspective on these invisible relationships, the social forces that influenced them, and the ideology surrounding them within Victorian society.

Type of resource	text
Date created	May 2014

Author	Ayala-Hurtado, Elena
Primary advisor	Algee-Hewitt, Mark
Primary advisor	Ridgeway, Cecilia
Advisor	Moretti, Franco
Degree granting institution	Stanford University, Department of English
Degree granting institution	Stanford University, Department of Sociology

Location	https://purl.stanford.edu/mg662qq6088

Use and reproduction: This document has been removed from online delivery at the request of the author.
License: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).

Stanford University, Department of English, Undergraduate Honors Theses

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