Fragile Families: Marriage and Domestic Life in the Age of Bourgeois Modernity

In the era of bourgeois modernity (1750-1900), the family is as valued as it is vulnerable. It constitutes a community of care, conflict, and emotion. Time and again, it is evoked as a bond of love as well as a moral institution. Yet both love and morality are fragile. A more detailed exploration reveals that domestic life during this period was much more colorful, open, and dynamic - and also more prone to crisis - than one might expect given the vaunted view of the family that characterized the heyday of the bourgeoisie.
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