Identifier

etd-04042006-134727

Degree

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

French Studies

Document Type

Thesis

Abstract

This thesis examines the relationships between mothers and daughters against the background of education in early nineteenth-century France. This era was the first time that a large population of French girls was separated from their mothers. Because of their attendance at school, girls created an identity separate from that of the one that their mothers had helped them to create. By using George Sand’s autobiography Histoire de ma vie and Marceline Desbordes-Valmore’s poem “Ondine à l’ecole,” the process of distinguishing the daughter from the mother has been analyzed from both the mother’s perspective and the daughter’s perspective. For Sand, who writes from the daughter’s perspective, her maternal figures (mother and grandmother) push her away from them so that she could get an education. As a result of being pushed away, she is ‘forced’ to create her own identity. For Marceline Desbordes-Valmore, the opposite occurs. Writing from the mother’s perspective, she becomes very protective of her daughter and seems threatened by Ondine’s success at school through which she creates a distinct identity away from Desbordes-Valmore. By studying these two works together, one can learn about the mother-daughter dynamics at work and the emotional hardships suffered by both mothers and daughters, as girls began school during this era. Both mother and daughter experienced a feeling of loss, and relationships were permanently changed as daughters created unique identities for themselves.

Date

2006

Document Availability at the Time of Submission

Release the entire work immediately for access worldwide.

Committee Chair

Katharine Ann Jensen

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_theses.4053

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