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All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

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The Cult Of True Motherhood: A Narrative, Jacoba Lynne Mendelkow May 2009

The Cult Of True Motherhood: A Narrative, Jacoba Lynne Mendelkow

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis consists of five chapters including a traditional introduction and four chapters, which investigate cultural interpretations of motherhood within the genre of memoir and personal essay. In the introduction, I discuss my research as it relates to the larger collection and detail how this work is different from other works within the "mother memoir" genre. Chapters II thru V, then, are all essays which begin to explore the major themes of cultural motherhood: ambivalence, loss, legitimacy, morality, and sin. These chapters, especially chapter II, identify and detail the traits of true motherhood as patience, compassion, sacrifice, and strength.

Chapter …