Well-behaved Girls, Good Mothers and Terrible Mothers: An Approach to Comparative Analysis of Female Archetypes in European Children's Literature through "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" and "Antoñita la fantástica"

Abstract

In a Europe mired by destruction and patriarchal oppression, girls who lived in the frame of the Second World War and Franco’s regime had to learn early that their place belonged to the private sphere, motherhood, and submission. In this respect, children’s literature played a very important role. Although the themes explored in the works of each country were different, the configuration of the female characters gives some clues to possible models of analysis. Therefore, this article proposes a comparison of the female archetypes of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950) and Antoñita la fantástica (1948), two very representative children's works in the United Kingdom and Spain. Firstly, the adult female characters will be compared through the archetypes of the Great Mother: Good Mother (Antoñita's mother, grandmother and nanny) and Terrible Mother (the White Witch). Secondly, the characteristics and roles of the female child characters (Lucy, Susan and Antoñita) will be analysed. The aim is to establish connections between the models of feminity in both works. Besides, a constant dialogue will also be maintained between these representations and the education of girls at the time, both in Spain and in the United Kingdom.