To understand the ideology of the absent mother in literature, the cultural history of misogyny needs to be examined and the impact the ideology has on women and their role as a wife and mother. In her 1966 study of misogyny in literature, The Troublesome Helpmate, Katherine Rogers examines the historical context of misogyny throughout history and places that content in relation to the representation of women in recent literature. History proves that the emergence of female published writers is comparatively lopsided to the plethora of male published writers as literacy is reserved for men of the cloth and the wealthy.
