Law as Father: Metaphors of Family in Nineteenth-Century Law

Although metaphor is commonly recognized as an important force in public discourse, this article argues that a subtle shift in metaphor is part of what can create the inventional possibilities for legal change. This article focuses on subtle shifts in judicial appeals to coverture, which were an important part of the struggle for nineteenth-century women's rights. Coverture was the concept in which women were legally and politically "covered'' by the male head of household. This article argues that changes in coverture were enabled through a subtle shift in legal language, where the metaphor of family-as-government came to be replaced by the metaphor of government-as-family. This movement is traced through the case studies of spousal abuse law, child custody law, and juvenile court.