Constance Maynard's Life-Writing Considered as Spiritual Autobiography

Viewing Constance Maynard's unwieldy life-writings within the tradition of spiritual autobiography reveals many of the irresolvable tensions with which she wrestled. Although she chose to see her public role as spearheading a crusade against modern rationalism, her inner life was as much concer...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Women's history review 2016-01, Vol.25 (1), p.74-88
Main Author: Jay, Elisabeth
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Autobiographical literature
British & Irish literature
Evangelicalism
Maynard, Constance
Mothers
Parents & parenting
Rationalism
Sexes
Spirituality
Womens literature
Writing
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Viewing Constance Maynard's unwieldy life-writings within the tradition of spiritual autobiography reveals many of the irresolvable tensions with which she wrestled. Although she chose to see her public role as spearheading a crusade against modern rationalism, her inner life was as much concerned with the struggle to repudiate her parents' ascetic Evangelical piety in favour of a more emotionally intense spirituality. Her conviction of conversion's centrality fostered a sense of mission which bolstered a sense of her own exceptionality as a 'prophet' chosen by God. This in turn nourished her belief that she was justified in exempting herself from the roles and relationships conventionally assigned to her gender, by pursuing same-sex desire and sexless motherhood.
ISSN:0961-2025
1747-583X
DOI:10.1080/09612025.2015.1047244