Top Ten Favorite Mothers from Literature
Top Ten Tuesday is an original
feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish
Unfortunately, I don’t have
10 favorite mothers from my classics list. So, this is actually 4 favorites, 3
I’m ambivalent about, 2 I disliked, and Melanie Hamilton is a class by herself.
Favorites:
Ma Joad from The Grapes of Wrath for
her tireless devotion to her family.
Lady Jessica from Dune
Fantine from Les Mis
Amelia Osbourne from Vanity Fair – I’m
judging this from memory, and I might change my mind later (this is my current
read – a reread). Amelia has her flaws, but as I remember her devotion as a
mother brings her to a terrible sacrifice. I’m not even sure I agree with her
decision, but have no doubt about the purity of her motive.
Ambivalent – There were some things I
liked about these mothers, but then there were other moments – not so much:
Sethe from Beloved
Hester Prynne from The Scarlet Letter
Dishonorable mention:
Antonia (mother of Claudius) from I, Claudius
Livia (Wife of Caesar Augustus) also
from I, Claudius
Those last two are particularly awful.
Finally, there are other female
characters whom I liked and/or admired, who happened to be mothers, but my
opinion of them had little to do with their role as mothers, such as: Melanie
Hamilton from Gone with the Wind. How can you not love Melanie? and although I
find no fault with her as a mother, neither did I find anything especially
commendable in that regard.
I read Dune in my early twenties (ahem, cough...years ago) - and hadn't really thought about it since. But suddenly so many bloggers are remembering or reminding me of it.
ReplyDeleteMaybe a reread is on the cards?
Did you ever read Little Women? Marmee March is a pretty impressive mother figure - I think she'd top my list :-)
Yes, definitely Marmee, but I know her only from film. I'm due to read LW a bit later, but this was based only on those I've read.
DeleteFantine is a great example! She gives up so much for her child. And I also seem to remember that Amelia was a good mother, although like you it's been a while since I read Vanity Fair!
ReplyDelete