Bad behaviour. Low morals. Social decay. Mothers can be blamed for everything. But what about mothers in classic literature? Do we still blame the mother there?

This new talk to mark Mother’s Day in the UK, compares Elizabeth Gaskell’s own experience of motherhood with that of her classic novels. Starting with the unintentionally funny Victorian child-rearing advice, popular speaker Elizabeth Williams investigates Elizabeth Gaskell’s own concerns of motherhood. How did raising her own four daughters affect her depiction of motherhood in literature?

There are terrible mothers like Mrs Kirkpatrick with her complex daughter Cynthia in Wives and Daughters. Or the docile and submissive Mrs Bradshaw next to her stern husband in Ruth and the indulgent Mrs Browne in The Moorland Cottage. And what of Elizabeth Gaskell’s biography The Life of Charlotte Bronte?

What impact do bad and good mothers have on their children? How does motherhood affect a child? And are those doing the real mothering, always mothers themselves?

Join like-minded literary fans as we ask, why blame the mother?

‘Outstanding talk with such interesting comments on Victorian society and literature. The references to Gaskell’s and other books really bring the topic alive.’ – Audience member.