ABSTRACT
The Step- in Stepmother derives from the Middle English steif, meaning bereaved, and was originally applied to orphaned children. A Stepmother then is the mother of a bereaved child. For the Victorians, immersed in the tales of the Brothers Grimm, the wicked stepmother was evidently something of a potent image. Stepmothering was also an issue in J. Bakewell's The British Mother's Magazine. While Bakewell prioritized a positive portrait of stepmothering, she also acknowledged that there were occasions on which the stepmother might resemble the monster of myth, rather than an angelic caretaker. Yet it bears comparison with those tales that explore rivalry between a stepmother and daughter; young protagonist might be perceived as exhibiting a female oedipal complex, while the incoming stepmother achieves her queenship only through the physical and mental disempowerment of her rebellious stepchild. Instead, it proposes that a stepmother who lacks firm resolution and enters her new home bathed in illusions and excessive expectations will endure disappointments.
