Maternal Measures: Figuring Caregiving in the Early Modern Period (Women & Gender in Early Modern England, 1500-1750)

Care-givers in the early modern period included not only mothers and stepmothers, but also midwives and nurses, tutors and educators, wise women and witches. The contributors to this volume present research and criticism on a wide range of early modern care-giving roles by women in England, Italy, Spain, France, Latin America, Mexico and the New World. The essays are not only cross-cultural but also interdisciplinary, spanning literature, history, music and art history; and they focus on differences of gender, class and race. A wide variety of scholarly and critical approaches are represented. Essays are grouped in categories on conception and lactation; maternal nurture and instruction; domestic production; and social authority.