I've been reading The Brockets on kobo recently (though I found the audiobook version on YT also). It revolves around the misadventures of an over the top mother, probably intended as a caricature (parody?) of Jane Austen's legendary Mrs Bennet. I would recommend it as a fun, light read for anyone who likes a modern take on regency period humour, with over the top, absurd situations the family find themselves in each chapter. The book most definitely does not take itself seriously.
It got me thinking of other books (and a few plays) I've particularly enjoyed, which also feature what I like to term as "Menacing Mothers", so thought I'd start off a thread for this niche, to get your recommendations for further reading.
They can be mainstream or obscure. And if you can give an example of what you think made the mother a menace, add that in as an example too.
Now, when I say a menace, I guess I mean a mother that's portrayed in an amusing light. Like poking noses into other people's business, calling the shots with audacity, and blundering their family through chaos. Or as close as you can get.
I'm glad to say my own mother was great. Others have not been so lucky – and had it not been for this fact, I probably wouldn't have found the subject of motherly menaces quite so amusing…
Please include:
-Book title
-Who was the Menacing Mother character?
-Why you thought she was a menace
-Link(s) ebook/audiobook
Title: Pride and Prejudice
by Jane Austen
Menacing Mother: Mrs. Bennet
Why: The original and classic misguided matriarch – unrelenting in her quest to see her daughters married off to wealthy suitors. She's frantic, matchmaking and overbearing. Austin cringe comedy at its finest. She’s not wicked, but does shame her daughters in front of guests which gives her a delightfully ominous edge. Insists that one of her daughter's travels on horseback to Netherfield, knowing she’ll be caught in the rain and forced to stay over night, which maximizes the chance of a romance.
Links:
https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/pride-and-prejudice-penguin-clothbound-classics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qh5hpomtlE&t=0s
Title: The Brockets (as above)
by David Vardy
Menacing Mother: Penelope Brocket
Why: Takes her family's misadventures to absurd heights each chapter, trying to marry the daughters off or raise her social profile. At one point, a horseman, so fed up of her, ditches her and her argumentative maid, leaving their carriage horseless in the forest. At which point, Mrs Brocket tells the maid simply to get out – and pull. Another time, she forces the maid to fix an early plumbing system that's currently wrecking havoc during a matchmaking dinner with a suitor. The deliberate ridiculousness of the Mrs Brocket episodes reminds me of Hyacinth Bucket from the BBC 90s sitcom Keeping Up Appearances.
(And Bucket/Bennet/Brocket, spotting a naming pattern here perhaps…)
Links:
https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/the-brockets-pride-and-prejuice-1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CquAnS5e0Ac&list=PLZrET2YYAFVvCCU8wqBtxNTUwM2GtntDK
Cold Comfort Farm
by Stella Gibbons
Menacing Mother: Aunt Ada Doom
Why: She stays in her room most of the time and keeps the whole family scared by saying dramatic stuff. She’s not actually the mother, but she’s in charge of the house. She always repeats the same line, "I saw something nasty in the woodshed!" to make everyone do what she says. If anyone tries to leave or argue, she acts like her bad memories are coming back, so nobody dares to go against her.
Links:
https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/cold-comfort-farm-7
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2UjDyVFytU
The Rivals (a play, but available in print)
by Richard Sheridan
Menacing Mother: Mrs. Malaprop
Why: Famous for misusing grand words in her attempts to sound refined. While she isn’t a literal mother, she’s the guardian of Lydia. She wields her authority with comic ferocity, meddling in Lydia’s love life in ways that teeter between hilarity and tyranny. Beyond her famed malapropism, Mrs. Malaprop sabotages Lydia’s romance by intercepting letters and scheming to marry her off respectably. Her sense of sophistication and her misuse of words creates a blend of farce and tyranny making Lydias love life difficult, to say the least.
Links:
https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/the-rivals-a-comedy-2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTAU3CmH0pU
A Confederacy of Dunces
by John Kennedy Toole
Mother: Irene Reilly
Why: Irene is a loud, overbearing, and goes between caring for her adult son and threatening to throw him out on the street. She guilt-trips and humiliates him in public. I foudn the friction between them grim but funny, along with her dramatic antics. I particularly liked irene’s guilt-tripping, which after she drunkenly crashes their car, she doesn't accept blame, but instead berates Ignatius for giving her bad advice while driving. She's also always reminding him to find a job (or risk eviction), and can flip from doting to dominatng in the span of a single conversation.
Links:
https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/a-confederacy-of-dunces-7
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjhpdPL7B_o
Matilda
by Roald Dahl
Mother: Mrs. Wormwood
Why: Mrs. Wormwood’s dismissive treatment of her brilliant daughter, I found to be both comedic and dreadful. She’s vain, lazy, and more absorbed in bingo winnings and TV than raising a child, yet her outrageous neglect and casual cruelty supply the menace. Like when Matilda demonstrates her extraordinary reading abilities, her mother says she should think about makeup and boys, rather than than books. She’s so wrapped up in bingo and beauty tips that she boo hoos her daughter’s intellect outright, resulting in the hair-dye fiasco.
Links
https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/matilda-2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfDZ-PLODHA
So there's 6 for starters. Can we add any more?
by sunny-spring24