Pregnancy and Fatherhood in Historical Romance
It’s a cliche: Practiced Rake seduces fair virgin, gets her with child.
It’s a cliche but it works, because as much as we all as readers get tired of pregnancy as a means to an end, it gives our rake an easy way to prove he’s changed his wicked ways. He can show he will be a good father.
Of course, this use of fatherhood to prove hero worthiness is not limited to the Rake who seduces the Virgin. It works for a widower with children, the elder brother to a much younger sibling, a man who adopts an orphan, or the knight in a medieval who is protective of his young page.
In On These Silken Sheets, I am guilty of using fatherhood as proof of worthiness, though I would never have thought so clearly about it if my sister hadn’t pointed it out. Now I wonder if it’s a convenient crutch or if there is just something so elemental in us humans, that when we look for a mate, we value the maternal/paternal instinct?
Is fatherhood really the great test of the hero, giving him a chance to change, to show he is trustworthy and stable? It certainly is a test that is used in all art forms, not only romance fiction.
Just the beginning of thoughts on this, but I’m eager to hear yours!
Sabrina,
As a writer, I love seeing an ending with a pregnancy or a child because it allows you to see the very human side of a man. Yeah, we know the Rake is reformed and in love but he still has to keep so many qualities of a Rake to make him attractive yet not enough to make us wonder if he’ll struggle.
A child strips everything away. You see the elemental truth of a human in how they interact with small children (at least I think that’s how people feel). If someone is mean to a child, then they must be heartless and unredeemable. Perhaps he’s just having a bad day but in a story/fiction, that states loud and clear that he’s not a great person at heart.
Honestly, maybe it’s cliche, but I think it’s so sweet and cute and it leaves me feeling happy at the end of the book which heck… that’s what I want as a reader.
April
I personally really dislike endings where its a great end, and then all of a sudden there’s an epilogue and whoosh shes preggers and they’re all so happy. I think I’m too pessimistic for that, LOL. However, what you’re talking about in the post, where the hero gets her pregnant, and the story evolves as he learns how to deal with it, and how to become a father, and hopefully a good father – usually one better than his was – that I do enjoy; BECAUSE of the evolution of it. Perhaps what I dislike so much about the pregnant epilogues is that there’s no progression, no story. Its just a storyline plopped down to give me a hint of what comes after, but unfortunately usually makes me groan. I know, bad romance writer, but as a reader, its the story I’m after. Anyways, nice post
Found this, and thought it was fitting and interesting too.
http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/14656
Very interesting Rachel!