I See Myself in Your Eyes: Good Enough Mother As A Nun Or An Amazon

Abstract

This article aims to compare mother figures in three novels: The Mysterious of Udolpho (1794), Villette (1853), and The Magic Toyshop (1967) based on Winnicott’s theory on mothers. These Gothic novels belong to three different centuries; therefore they reveal different types of mother figures in different times. Winnicott believes that the mother’s role is crucial for the child’s future, especially daughters, so the mother-child bond can help the child to create her true ‘self’. As a result, this article seeks to answer the raised questions based on Winnicott’s good-enough-mother in the girl’s life: which century does introduce the best good enough mother? And in which century girls can reject the Gothic life? By making a proper environment for her daughter a good-enough-mother helps her daughter to make her true self. Besides, the Gothic novel exposes mother as a helper to daughter and her efforts to save daughter from the Gothic future. Studying Winnicott’s theory reveals that various elements define a good-enough-mother such as helping her daughter to make her true self, aiding the girl to have progress, and erasing horror and terror from her future. Based on Winnicott’s we found out the nineteenth-century Villette introduces the best example of a gothic good-enough-mother.