Lucy Westenra Motherhood Analysis

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Lucy Westenra presents a rejection to motherhood when she eats the body of a child and throws it away. ‘the new woman represented a threat not only to the social order, but also to the natural order.’-101 ‘the child that she had clutched strenuously to her breast’ p.188 ‘scientific research defined a woman entirely in terms of body, one which characterised women’s bodies as devoid of passion. Science greatly feared sexual excess, which it felt could lead to men’s debilitation, which in turn could weaken the entire race. Since men’s passion was considered strong and more naturally inclined to excess, the controls were, instead, placed on women. The idolisation of motherhood was partly aimed to control female sexuality and curtail the threat

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