Mothers in Period Drama for Mother's Day

Mrs. Thornton from Mrs. Gaskell's North and South

Hannah Thornton may not have been the cuddliest mother, but you have to admit she fiercely loved her son. To her flighty daughter Fanny she was more protective than proud, but still a good mother.

Mrs. Bennet from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice

OK, Mrs. Bennet is a mother who is really trying to do the best for her daughters but she fails as often as she succeeds. And she gives some good cringe-worthy comedic moments in the process!

Mrs. Dashwood from Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility

Poor Mrs. Dashwood. She loves her daughters dearly and fiercely, but again, often unwittingly causes them harm or pain but without the comedy of Mrs. Bennet.

Mrs. Clennam from Charles Dickens' Little Dorrit

Ouch. Mrs. Clennam. What can I say except that here is one of the most spectacularly horrible mothers in 19th century literature. She does redeem herself in the end however (oops....spoiler alert!)

Mildred Pierce

Try as you might Mildred, you really needed to read a parenting book to deal with that witch of a daughter, didn't you?

Marilla Cuthbert from L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables

Well, even though she wasn't technically Anne's mother, that is really the point of Mother's Day isn't it? Honouring those who mother us, and who was a better mother really, than Marilla? Sigh...

Mrs. Banks from Mary Poppins

Now I think I will end with Mrs. Banks. She tries to balance the job of being a modern woman with being a mother and makes us all feel better by messing up but then redeeming herself at the end. Votes for women and hugs for children!

So Happy Mother's Day to you all, whether you are a mother, have a mother or are remembering a mother today. And feel free to comment below with your favourite mother from a period drama. There are lots more!

Mary Poppins and the Suffragettes

Mrs. Banks suffragette!

I have loved Mary Poppins since I was little. Since I am approximately as old as this film, I did not watch it often as a child as there were no VCRs and it was only rarely on TV (I had a Mary Poppins book with lots of pictures however). It was when my eldest son was about 2 or 3 years old that we watched this a lot! He used to dance around pretending to be a chimney sweep. Sooooooo cute.  He is now in university, but would still likely watch this with me when he comes home.  I will have to try that.  Right now I have him addicted to Jeeves and Wooster. That's my boy!

Lets go fly a kite...

He used to sing all the songs too, although with slightly different lyrics.  For example:

"Let's go fly a kite and send it snoring!!!"

"Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down....in the microwave!!!!"

His father (as a child of course) thought it was "Feed the birds...toughens the bag!!!"

Feed the birds...tuppence a bag!

Anyone else with funny mistaken lyrics from Mary Poppins, please comment below.  I love these and will likely snort my tea through my nose if you have any good ones.  Anyway, I will not review this film.  It's wonderful, and if you haven't watched it for a while, you will really enjoy it.

The reason I got thinking about Mary Poppins and Mrs. Banks was because I came across an old film clip on You Tube which shows a riot at Trafalgar Square in London in 1913 where they actually show Miss Sylvia Pankhurst (the more radical daughter of Mrs. Emmeline Pankhurst) being hauled away by police. So the lyrics of the Sister Suffragettes song rather hit home when you actually see Miss Pankhurst being "clapped in irons again".

Mrs. Emmeline Pankhurst (she doesn't look militant, does she?)

I am what I would consider a feminist, and I really enjoyed Lady Sybil on Downton Abbey.  I can see her joining in with Mrs. Pankhurst and the suffragettes next season, although they got much less militant during the war (less throwing stones at 10 Downing Street) and put their effort behind the war on the home-front instead.  Mrs. Pankhurst also concerned herself with children's welfare, starting an adoption home yet was criticized for helping mothers of children born out of wedlock. She even adopted 4 orphaned children at the age of 57.  What a woman!




Now that you have watched that, you may enjoy the Disney version. Part of me has mixed feelings about the message Disney is trying to give...that Mrs. Banks should spend more time with her children and not be out campaigning with the suffragettes. However, the message was also leveled at Mr. Banks, so one would assume that the message for both was just to spend more time with the children, not to stop going to work or stop demonstrating in the streets altogether.



My favourite line, bar none, has to be:

"Though we adore men individually, We agree that as a group they're rather stupid!"


VOTES FOR WOMEN!