Figures du père dans les romans de la comtesse de Ségur

The importance of mothers as leading characters in the novels of the Comtesse de Ségur is well-documented. However, especially in her later works, parental authority is shifted to fathers and their substitutes, who not only exhibit nurturing qualities, thus redefining the role of the “maternal,” but are more adaptable than women to changes in family dynamics. Convinced that love is the prerequisite for good parenting, Ségur dismisses conventional gender bias and challenges the legal notion of “paternal power.” In defiance of the French Civil Code in which full adoptions were not allowed, Ségur has redefined the meaning of filiation, given children the right to enter into marriage-like contracts with their male surrogate parent, and made the non-biological father one of the most benevolent and empowering parental figures in nineteenth-century children’s literature. (cg ) (In French)