SOURCE: "Mary Baker Eddy and Sentimental Womanhood," in The New England Quarterly, Vol. XLIII, No. 1, March, 1970, pp. 3-18.

In the following essay, Parker discusses Mary Baker Eddy and the Victorian notion of women as purely moral beings.

As Mark Twain described her, Mary Baker Eddy was the very type of the American businessman, with a mouth full of moral phrases, and a totally unscrupulous head for profit. "She was always in the front seat when there was business to be done; in the front seat, with both eyes open, and looking out for Number One; in the front seat, working Mortal Mind with fine effectiveness and giving Immortal Mind a rest for Sunday." For Twain, Mrs. Eddy's hypocrisy reached a peak in her denial of the existence of matter. "From end to end of the Christian-Science literature not a single (material) thing is conceded to be real, except...