Motherhood: Exploring Social Ideas in The Yellow Book
Mary Ann Matias
Ryerson University
2366
Maternity and Art
Photograph of Margaret Macdonald
Wikipedia Commons
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Macdonald's
painting, “Mother and Child,” is an example of The Yellow Book's
content expressing novel ideas about motherhood in the 1890s. In this
period, an increasing responsibility for the
health and well-being of children helped in creating a celebration of
innocence and purity. There was a type of familial identity forged in
these ideas; particularly for women, they became central figures in
raising children (Gill Jagger and Caroline Wright
29). The “content of motherhood” became something of an ideology and,
as a result, the female identity was divided between the fulfillment of
these expectations and those that deviated from it (Jagger and Wright
29). There was a construction and scapegoating
of particular stereotypes (Jagger and Wright 29), and these splits in
identity are evident in the depiction of women in art. Many of these
depictions were archetypal in nature (Wendy Slatkin 13). The avante-garde circles that The Yellow Book was involved with also participated in general female forms that could range from virginal maidens to seductive femme fatales (Slatkin 13). This preoccupation with human sexuality made maternity an especially popular subject, as it was firmly associated with reproduction and fertility.
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On
the surface, Macdonald's painting seems to also portray those same
female forms. The woman's features in this painting are particularly
feminine and delicate, and both the presence of an infant and balloons
portray that same
innocence and nurturing role cemented in family culture. But closer
inspection reveals that these elements and the way in which Macdonald
portrays them are evidence of a self-awareness in this piece. Focusing
first on the woman in this painting, she is depicted
as a serene figure; her expression is smooth and pleasant. It is
important to note that many of these features are emphasized, and are
also details associated with the traditional maternal role, such as a
docile nature. This is not uncharacteristic
of Macdonald's artwork, as her specific style lends itself to a social
prowess derived from the reinterpretation of traditional themes,
symbols, and structures – including gender (Jennifer Jill Bauer 10).
What this painting does is subvert social conventions
about the mother figure through the way it constructs them. Although
this woman possesses many of the features associated with the accepted
stereotype of a maternal figure – innocence, a loving nature, beauty –
it is all done in a very stylized manner.
Details on this human form, such as her expression and dress are
portrayed as almost too raw and obvious in its symbolism; at the same
time, the exposure of her neckline and the vibrant shading of her eyes
and lips are just as stark, and convey a sexuality that perverses
those modest qualities.
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Mother and Child
Margaret Macdonald
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Focusing last on the baby and the balloons,
their presence is also too overt. The baby in this painting is nude and
cherub-like, reaching for an array of balloons held in its mother's hand
that seem out of place and
crowded. Both of these things are another part of this maternal
archetype, this absolute familial purity. This is also characteristic of
Macdonald's fascination with the construction of fairy tale themes,
especially that of innocence (Bauer 20). Macdonald's
painting carries a theatricality in its portrayal of motherhood, a
particular attention to what the spectator was familiar with and
projecting those expectations as a sort of mirror. Clearly, Macdonald is
over-idealizing these normative views of motherhood as a sort of caricature through an exaggeration of its ideas.
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