Literary Moms
by Maria Geraci
Mothers Day is just a few days off and the buzz is heavy in the air. Flower shops are working round the clock and restaurants are prepping for their biggest day of the year.
I noticed that one of the cable channels is running a Mother’s Day marathon of “Mommy Dearest” and “Carrie.” Yikes. Talk about two dysfunctional moms! Which got me thinking about moms as portrayed in literature.
Other than the moms I’ve written for my own characters (hands down favs are Emma’s 2 moms from my novel A Girl Like You) undoubtedly my literary favorites would have to be the Mom from Little Women, and Mrs. Bennet from Pride and Prejudice. And the more I think about it, Mrs. Bennet wins hands down. How could she not? Yes, she’s silly, vain, and embarrassingly crude, but she’s out to get her daughters married in a time when marriage was the only recourse for a woman. Plus, it’s hard not to love someone who makes you laugh and roll your eyes at the same time. Brilliant characterization!
Who are your favorite literary moms?
Marmee: "Feminine weaknesses and fainting spells are the direct result of our confining young girls to the house, bent over their needlework, and restrictive corsets."
Marmee was what the four March sisters called their mother in Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.
An ideal mother, so perfect as to defy belief. Still, she was so comforting and very ahead of her time in her views on feminine possibilities.
I enjoyed Mrs. Bennet but couldn't say she was a favorite.
Strangely, when I thought about how to answer this Q, I had a hard time.
Not a lot of literary mothers popped to mind, not good ones anyway. Lots of nasty ones abound…and stick in my memory.