Gender and Fatherhood in the Nineteenth Century

Despite current debate over the paternal role, fatherhood is a relatively new area of investigation in literary, historical and cultural studies. The contributors to this illustrated, interdisciplinary volume - one of the first extended investigations of paternity in nineteenth-century Britain and its empire - penetrate the stereotype of the Victorian paterfamilias to uncover intimate and involved, authoritarian and austere fathers. Finding surprising precursors of the 'new man' and the 'lone father', Trev Lynn Broughton and Helen Rogers provide an essential overview of changing ideologies and practices of fatherhood as the family acquired its distinctively modern form. -- Back cover.