This chapter addresses the question of why the dead/absent mother-trope is invoked in so many narratives and the many answers given, in mainstream conversations in various online media as well as in scholarly analyses. The chapter includes an overview of previous scholarly research, which is grouped according to the explanatory model given, rather than chronologically. Such an organization generates useful insights, not only into how scholars have approached the dead/absent mother-trope, but also into the transhistorical character of the trope itself. The chapter is concluded with an overview of the other chapters in the anthology, showing how they demonstrate that the dead/absent mother-trope is a cultural conversation that transcends historical and generic divisions.