With this unflinching new work, Adriana Cavarero offers an original philosophical exploration of motherhood that boldly confronts traditional, idealized representations. Its narrative brings the concept of life back to its visceral, bodily dimension, focusing on the physical and often unsettling realities of childbirth and maternal experience rather than the comforting or romantic images favored by Western thought. Drawing on Greek tragedy (especially the Bacchae), mythological figures like Niobe, contemporary literature, Ferrante, Ernaux, anthropology, biology, and feminist theory, Cavarero brings into focus a figure of "hyper-motherhood" — an intense maternal force that exceeds cultural norms and connects women intimately with nature and generative power. Framing an innovative idea of ecological biosphere, the book seeks to uncover the dark and formidable aspects of pregnancy and the maternal body, arguing they are essential to understanding the human condition and to challenging philosophical traditions that have marginalized women's lived experiences.

With this unflinching new work, Adriana Cavarero offers an original philosophical exploration of motherhood that boldly confronts traditional, idealized representations. Its narrative brings the concept of life back to its visceral, bodily dimension, focusing on the physical and often unsettling realities of childbirth and maternal experience rather than the comforting or romantic images favored by Western thought. Drawing on Greek tragedy (especially the Bacchae), mythological figures like Niobe, contemporary literature, Ferrante, Ernaux, anthropology, biology, and feminist theory, Cavarero brings into focus a figure of "hyper-motherhood" — an intense maternal force that exceeds cultural norms and connects women intimately with nature and generative power. Framing an innovative idea of ecological biosphere, the book seeks to uncover the dark and formidable aspects of pregnancy and the maternal body, arguing they are essential to understanding the human condition and to challenging philosophical traditions that have marginalized women's lived experiences.

With this unflinching new work, Adriana Cavarero offers an original philosophical exploration of motherhood that boldly confronts traditional, idealized representations. Its narrative brings the concept of life back to its visceral, bodily dimension, focusing on the physical and often unsettling realities of childbirth and maternal experience rather than the comforting or romantic images favored by Western thought. Drawing on Greek tragedy (especially the Bacchae), mythological figures like Niobe, contemporary literature, Ferrante, Ernaux, anthropology, biology, and feminist theory, Cavarero brings into focus a figure of "hyper-motherhood" — an intense maternal force that exceeds cultural norms and connects women intimately with nature and generative power. Framing an innovative idea of ecological biosphere, the book seeks to uncover the dark and formidable aspects of pregnancy and the maternal body, arguing they are essential to understanding the human condition and to challenging philosophical traditions that have marginalized women's lived experiences.