Infanticide in 18th and 19th Century Britain

Abstract

In the last decade of the 18th century and through the 19th century, Britain registered one of the highest birth rates ever, but it was not because large families were desired. On the contrary, most of these children were deeply unwanted, resulting in an outbreak of infanticides. In the majority of cases the accused were women, but surprisingly enough, the trials often resulted in the acquittal of the defendants. The aim of this thesis is to analyse the phenomenon of infanticide from both a social and a literary point of view. From a social perspective, this dissertation wants to investigate what led women to commit such a dramatic act; why, in the majority of cases, they were absolved from their crimes, and how the pressures that society put on the so-called Angel of the House led to both the abnegation of the latter and the constitution of the Fallen Woman. In literature, infanticide was a very popular topic explored by some of the most admired authors of the period. The works examined in depth for the purpose of this thesis are The Thorn by William Wordsworth and Adam Bede by George Eliot. Through the individual analysis of the two infanticidal women protagonists of the poem and the novel – Martha Ray and Hetty Sorrel – it is examined how each of them shapes a different version of the figure of the mother/murderess.

Keywords: Infanticide - Motherhood - Fallen Woman - Angel of the House