Moncrief and McPherson 2011

Moncrief, Kathryn M. and Kathryn R. McPherson, eds. Performing Pedagogy in Early Modern England: Gender, Instruction, and Performance. Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2011.

"The Absence of Eve in Elizabeth Herbert's Catechism," by Kathryn R. McPherson (177-188)

official Catechism of 1604 -- clear about "the regularity of catechism as an insructional method, as well as the responsibility of parents to ensure that children (as well as other members of the household) attend official catechism sessions" (178)

puritans supplemented official worship with catechism classes; used it as a "test of fitness for receiving the sacrament" (178)

William Herbert, Careful Father and Pious Child (1648), written for / dedicated to his daughter Elizabeth; Eve's transgression is left out of it (though Herbert's manual on childbearing includes mention of it)

"The inherently performative nature of catechism offers connections to other modes of dramatic representation -- women and girls as acted on the public stage and acting in the public eye." (180)

"I argue that pedagogical strategies in selected early modern catechisms intended for household use reveal how, where, and when some early modern English girls were taught to negotiate Eve's legacy on the path to appropriate Christian womanhood." (180)

catechism largely consistent across Church of England and more puritan / nonconformist practices

Robert Abbot, Milk for Babes, or a Mother's Catechism for Her Children (1646)

"Whatever the source, the absence of Eve in these catechisms for girls and women remains a startline omission to scholars accustomed to reading so many genres of early modern texts for women still harping on Eve." (184)

Careful Father "keeps its focus on traditional Christian patriarchy"; so "where is Eve in Herbert's educational scheme for his daughter in particular and godly women in general?" (185)