버넷의 「소공녀」와 「비밀의 정원」 에 재현된 모성

A Study on Motherhood in Frances Hodgson Burnett ’ s A Little Princess and The Secret Garden

This study intends to research Frances Hodgson Burnett’s changing idea of the role of motherhood in A Little Princess (1905) and The Secret Garden (1911). These popular novels contain a progressive view of women, especially motherhood. Sara’s mothering role in A Little Princess begins with taking care of her father and herself and extends to motherless students at the Minchin Boarding School and a hungry and poor child, Ann, on the street. In The Secret Garden, readers are invited to compare the roles of three mothers, Mrs. Lennox, Mrs. Craven and Mrs. Sowerby in light of ‘an angel in the house,’ the ideal woman in the Victorian Era. The role of motherhood extends to Dicon and Mary, Mr. Craven and even Mother Nature. In these novels, Burnett expands motherhood into society without limitation in the family. Also, she proves that motherhood is a great value and role that people of all ages and sexes should consider important and take part in. Burnett challenges patriarchal norms by promoting motherhood in the Victorian era, when women’s motherhood was undervalued.