Theories on childhood during the Age of Enlightenment were very influential in transforming the mainstream practice used for maintaining discipline in the eighteenth century. The purpose of this thesis is to assess how enlightened theories altered the trajectory of child discipline and question whether the impact continued to influence current disciplinary strategies. However, as enlightenment literature was dominated by male authors, the mother was often portrayed as an inadequate disciplinarian due to her natural emotionality and attachment to the child. Given the important role the mother had in child-rearing practices of the eighteenth century, it is curious why her voice on the matter of discipline was marginal. Therefore, the mother’s opinion on discipline was evaluated to assess whether she followed the strategies proposed by the male authors. Literature from childcare manuals, domestic rule books and personal accounts was investigated and the ideas compared to current methods of discipline. This literature review demonstrates that enlightenment theories called for a softer form of discipline which sparked the contemporary movement towards child-centred and positive discipline. Furthermore, the mother’s role in discipline was relegated and essentially written out of eighteenth century history despite her modern-minded approach.
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