the Virgin Mary in nineteenth-century American culture /
Elizabeth Hayes Alvarez
241 pages :
illustrations ;
23 cm
Includes bibliographical references (pages 197-229) and index
The immaculate conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary : conflict and conversation, 1854-1855 -- The immaculate conception and the elevation of the feminine, 1855-1860s -- "The woman highly blessed" : Marian art and Anna Jameson's "great hope," 1850s-1870s -- Revitalizing church and culture : the Marian heroines of Anna Dorsey and Alexander Stewart Walsh, 1880s-1890s -- Queen of heaven and queen of the home : Mary and models of domestic queenship, 1880s-1900 -- Epilogue. The immaculate conception proclamation's semicentennial
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"Nineteenth-century America was rife with Protestant-fueled anti-Catholicism. Elizabeth Hayes Alvarez reveals how Protestants nevertheless became surprisingly and deeply fascinated with the Virgin Mary, even as her role as a devotional figure who united Catholics grew. Documenting the vivid Marian imagery that suffused popular visual and literary culture, Alvarez argues that Mary became a potent, shared exemplar of Christian womanhood around which Christians of all stripes rallied during an era filled with anxiety about the emerging market economy and shifting gender roles." --back cover