The Revolt Of Mother

Mary Wilkins Freeman is considered part of a second wave of women writers who rose up after the Civil War, when women’s spheres became wider and fiction started to reflect their real lives.

“The Revolt of ‘Mother’” alludes to Freeman’s childhood. Freeman grew up in a town much like the one from the story, with traditionally gendered roles for men and women, a close-knit community, and a concern over others’ opinions. Her father, Warren Wilkins, was a carpenter and housebuilder, but he was an apparent failure at business ventures who was unable to provide a stable life for his family. To pick up the slack, Freeman’s mother Eleanor became a housekeeper.

Critics have said “The Revolt of ‘Mother’” may be Freeman’s attempt to give her mother a voice and have women’s work and independent agency recognized. They also say the story came from Freeman’s desire to imagine a possibility of a fulfilling marriage or an expression of nostalgia for certain elements of the patriarchy, which often took care of women even as it repressed them.

“The Revolt of ‘Mother’” explores women’s role in rural, late 19th century New England. It also features a complex, ambiguous ending. There are parts that may read as comic, but overall it is a dramatic story full of