ABSTRACT
As with all written disciplines, the rules' of maternal educative discourse are defined and unquestionable in their authority, causing anxiety in the reader attempting to interpret and translate the written advice in practice. The authority lies with the maternal writer rather than the reader. This chapter provides the historical context for these current critical debates by locating the generation of this conception of maternity as a written discipline in the mid-eighteenth century. It focuses on texts such as Samuel Richardson's Pamela II, Sarah Fielding's The Governess and the writing of Ann Martin Taylor recovers these texts from relative critical neglect by recognising their significance in the construction and continuation of written maternal educative authority. This authority was adopted covertly by Austen's narrative direction, which demonstrated effective reading practices to her pupil-readers. Maria Edgeworth's writing has received far more critical attention in recent years, particularly following the extensive work of Mitzi Myers on Edgeworth's educational writing.
