Date of Award
2016
Document Type
Thesis
Publication Status
Version of Record
Submission Date
October 2026
Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]
Hagood, Taylor
Abstract
Literary scholars have been examining and recreating the experiences of “bonded” female characters within Toni Morrison’s novels for decades. However, the distinct experiences of these enslaved women, that are also mothers have not been astutely examined by scholars and deserves more attention. My thesis fleshes out the characterization of several of Morrison’s bonded-mothers and identifies them as a part of a developing controlling image and theory, called the bondmother. Situating these characters within this category allows readers to trace their journeys towards freedom and personal redemption. This character tracing will occur by examining the following Toni Morrison novels: Beloved (1987) and Paradise (1997). In order to fully examine the experiences of these characters it will be necessary for me to expand the definition of bondage and mother.
Extent
62 p.
Recommended Citation
Tisdale, Ashely, "Establishing the Bondmother: Examining the Categorization of Maternal Figures in Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Paradise" (2016). Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019. 1457.
https://digitalcommons.fau.edu/etd_general_6/1457
Identifier
FA00004696
Comments
Includes bibliography.|Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016.|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Includes bibliography.