Skip to content
Csbibliography

Annotated Bibliography of Christian Science

Academic and Other Literature

  • Home
  • About
    • About the ABCS Project
    • Support Opportunities (Donate)
    • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Annotations
    • Search Information
    • Category Search
    • Keyword Search
    • Advanced Search
    • Standard Search
    • Authors/Editor List
    • Title List
    • Recently Added
    • Search Support
  • Resources
    • The Book
    • Online Resources
    • ABCS Blog
    • Suggest Resources
  • Contact
Annotation Resource

“Mary Baker Eddy and Sentimental Womanhood”

“Mary Baker Eddy and Sentimental Womanhood”

Parker, Gail. “Mary Baker Eddy and Sentimental Womanhood.” The New England Quarterly 43, no. 1 (1970): 3–18.

Parker provides a one-dimensional rendering of Mark Twain’s hostility and unease with the ‘formidable’ Eddy as having to do with her hypocritical ambition for money and business success (a man’s prerogative) while at the same time denying matter. Parker then contrasts Twain’s view with Leslie Fiedler’s view of Eddy as the embodiment of the virtuous sentimental feminine culture of her day. Parker chooses a psychoanalytical approach to Eddy bringing both the ambition (Twain) and the sanctity of 19th-century female spirituality (Fiedler) into tension in Eddy’s life. Parker sees Eddy’s desire to sublimate her willful personality through submission to the purity and safety of the feminine, and yet exploiting the culture of womanhood in order to fulfill her drive for success in leading a religious movement—i.e., “parlaying female spirituality into upward mobility” and hiding her ambition by calling her successes the “impersonal victories of the spirit” (10). Parker also explores possible sexual repression as a factor in Eddy’s relationships with men. Parker’s psychoanalytical approach misses why Eddy’s followers resonated with Eddy so deeply. Rather Parker takes the plentiful evidence of Eddy’s genuine love and care for her flock and for humankind and reduces it to mere ambition and self-serving purposes.

ISSN: 0743-9229
Print ISSN: 0028-4866

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/363693

 

See also annotations:

Mary Baker Eddy by Gillian Gill

“Woman Goes Forth to Battle with Goliath: Mary Baker Eddy, Medical Science and Sentimental Invalidism” by Alison Piepmeier

Each Mind a Kingdom: American Women, Sexual Purity, and the New Thought Movement by Beryl Satter

“Religion and Remedies Reunited: Rethinking Christian Science” by Rosemary Hicks Corbett

“Mary Baker Eddy and the Nineteenth-Century ‘Public’ Woman: A Feminist Reappraisal” by Jean McDonald

Crossing Swords: Mary Baker Eddy vs. Victoria Woodhull and the Battle for the Soul of Marriage by Cindy Safronoff

“Mark Twain and Mary Baker Eddy: Gendering the Transpersonal Subject” by Cynthia D. Schrager

 

Parker, Gail Thain

Related Annotations:

Annotations related by category:
  • Availability: Online - Academic Credentials or Fee
  • Controversy: Sex and Marriage
  • Official Christian Science Publication: No
  • People: Eddy, Mary Baker
  • People: Twain, Mark
  • Publication Date: 1956-1980
  • Resource Types: Article
  • Subjects: Feminist Perspectives
  • Subjects: Polemic Literature and Responses
  • Subjects: Social and Cultural Studies
Annotations related by keyword:
  • Critical Analysis
  • Gender
  • Psychology
  • Sentimentalism
  • Spirituality
  • Wealth
More by authors or editor(s):
  • Parker, Gail Thain

Comment on this resource: Cancel

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Search Home

Search application instructions and overview.

Search Support

Questions? We've got answers.

Category Search

Select subject, person, organization and/or controversy to provide a subset of annotation results. The results page includes the ability to further limit your search.

Keyword Search

Select one or more specific keywords to provide a subset of annotation results. The results page includes the ability to further limit your search.

Advanced Search

Select from all search options to obtain very specific results.

Standard Search

Might yield a mix of relevant and irrelevant results, but could be very helpful if you are looking for a specific term not included in any of the other types of searches.

Annotations by Author
Annotations by Title
Most Recent

View the 30 most recently added annotations.

New Since the Book

View new annotations available here that were not included in the book.

Suggest a Resource
Donate via PayPal

Scholarly Works on Christian Science is the nonprofit corporation that produces the ABCS website. We rely on donations to keep the bibliography updated and available to the public. If you find this site useful we hope you'll consider donating to support the work. Donate via PayPal by clicking the button above or send a check to:

Scholarly Works on Christian Science
420 Conway Meadows Drive
St. Louis, MO 63017

© 2022 and later by Scholarly Works on Christian Science, all rights reserved.

Privacy Policy is here. Cookie Policy is here. Comment Policy is here.

This material was printed from the Annotated Bibliography of Christian Science website produced and maintained by Scholarly Works on Christian Science (https://csbibliography.org). All rights reserved.