Katherine Schneebaum's A Wrinkle In Time

In “Finding a Happy Medium: The Design for Womanhood in A Wrinkle in Time”, Katherine Schneebaum argues that A Wrinkle in Time perpetuates the concept of a “moral mother” (30). The role of moral mother is not necessarily a negative stereotype, but its portrayal in novels can hinder the movement of liberation for women. Despite being more free than they were before, women still feel pressured into believing that they must be a “caregiver, housekeeper, and keeper of of moral flame of the family” (30). To further her argument, Schneebaum uses Meg’s mother as an example of being a moral mother or “wonder woman”, who is capable of doing it all (33). Towards the end she also brings up another unexpected motherly figure, Aunt Beast. At the end of the novel, Meg realizes what she needs to do to save her brother, she only knows what she must do because of the nurturing she has received from Aunt Beast.

Schneebaum’s discussion of a mother aiding the female protagonist’s quest that will ultimately end in her acting as a moral mother is not only applicable to A Wrinkle in Time but also in The False Princess by Eilis O’Neal. In O’Neal’s novel, the female protagonist, Sinda, lacks a motherly figure from those she is related to by blood but then finds one without realizing. The woman that fill is the person that gives her guidance and knowledge that will be helpful in her quest. Not only does her advice help the protagonist but it helps her take on the role of a motherly figure by accepting her quest to sacrifice her safety for someone