Dylan Higgins is a follower of Christ, a husband, and a father of four who was compelled by the mysterious cupboard-door in Anodos' secretary at the prompting of C.S. Lewis. In addition, he’s a Bible teacher at a private school in Metro Atlanta, a poet, and the author of a fantasy series called The Emblem & The Lantern, in which George MacDonald is celebrated as a chronicler of lore by his Scottish Gaelic name Dhòmhnaill. He is currently working on a MA in English at Campbellsville University, Kentucky.
Find out more about Dylan and his work here:
Novel Series Website - http://www.emblemandlantern.com/
Blog - https://medium.com/@bprojector
Victorian childhood was paradoxical in nature. On the one hand, British society dealt with mass poverty which, in turn, affected the children of the era. Children were often orphaned and abandoned to the streets to survive by whatever industrious means they could, or they were left for the state to take care of by means of workhouse placement and the like. Conversely, there was also a growing spirit of celebration for childhood — relishing the idea of the child and all the innocence and magic that childhood contained. Realist literature from the Victorian Era captured well the hardships of childhood. Primary among such authors of this literature is Charles Dickens whose work often dealt with the orphan and the impoverished child. However, by the end of the Victorian Era, realism in literature had begun to decline. The British people grew tired of the books that mirrored the hardships of society and they longed to use the pastime of reading as an escape from such harsh realities. As a result, other genres of literature took center-stage like gothic writing and more fantastical storytelling. One author of faerie tales that grew in prominence during the Late-Victorian Era was George MacDonald. MacDonald’s work was the inspiration for future fantasy writers such as J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and Madeleine L’Engle. While the general public desired to escape the grim realities of the era through fantasy writing it must be questioned whether or not writers of such works, like George MacDonald, ceased writing about the less than favorable conditions of the Victorian Era such as the cruel treatment of children? Or did they use their faerie tales to continue to deliver a message of social change within the fantastic encasement of such stories, perhaps masked to make such a social message more palatable? Certainly, this is the case for both Dickens and MacDonald, both of whom addressed the harsh realities for children in the Victorian environment in fantastical ways but also addressed the growing sentiment among Victorians concerning the ideal of the cherished child. An analysis of the paradox of childhood in the Victorian era is necessary to build this case which includes a consideration of the conditions of both the impoverished child and the growing ideal of the cherished childhood in several works of Charles Dickens and George MacDonald.
The Impoverished Child of the Victorian Era in Context
Much could be said concerning the impoverished child of the Victorian Era who often takes the form of an orphan, relegated to the workhouse-life or abandoned to the streets to survive. To understand the scope of this social dilemma and why impoverished children were on the hearts and minds of the general populace it is important to note the staggering number of workhouse-children in Nineteenth Century England and Wales. According to one census taken on 1 January 1862, “there were a total of 52,125 children (27,345 boys and 24,780 girls)” (Peters 7) living in workhouses. While the state saw these institutions as a place of reform for the child the literature of the time shows that the conditions were less than favorable. Another point to note is that of this total number of workhouse-children the census records that “11,385” (Peters 7) were orphans leaving the remaining 40,740 to have simply been given over or, in some cases, abandoned by their parents. Such is the case with Charles Dickens. It is well known that he was, “sent out at twelve to work at Warren’s blacking factory at Hungerford Stairs, near Charing Cross” (Allen 186). This handing-over of young Dickens by his parents would play an integral role in how the boy would one day portray the impoverished child in his works of fiction. Though this census gives a sense of the number of children in workhouses it cannot speak to the unknown number of street orphans left to harsh conditions brought on by weather and the underbelly of society. According to Peter M. Stokes The Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 sought to, “make relief dependent on residence in the workhouse.” (Stokes, 711) Oliver Twist, Or, The Parish Boy’s Progress was published from 1837 to 1839 in Bentley’s Miscellany and A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas was published in 1843. In both incidents, the books came out after the 1834 law which shows that, though the government attempted reform in society, Dickens continued to speak to the issues of the impoverished child and workhouse conditions after the fact. It is little wonder that writers of the time felt the need to stir the hearts of their readers toward social reform by shedding light on the cruel realities experienced by the impoverished child.
The Ideal of the Cherished Child of the Victorian Era in Context
To begin, we must consider the definition of “cherished child.” In an article titled, Home Is Where the Heart Is, writer Sean Coughlan states, “The Victorians, as no previous generation, were fascinated by the idea of childhood” (Coughlan 4). Herein lies the key to understanding the ideal of the cherished child. However, it is worth noting for the sake of balance, that there are those who would seek to create a third, and as understood by the source, more accurate category of childhood in the Victorian era. In her work titled, Charles Dickens and the Victorian Child: Romanticizing and Socializing the Imperfect Child, Amberyl Malkovich considers what is called the “imperfect child” (2). To summarize, Malkovich takes the stance that the imperfect child of the Victorian age (a term coined by the author) is “neither the Romantic child nor a street urchin but rather an individual who is comprised of both innocence and experience” (Malkovich 2). Malkovich is making an argument which seeks to show the paradox of childhood in the Victorian era is an erroneous view of childhood. Certainly, as suggested by Malkovich, the children in question whether the cherished view or the impoverished view — both were imperfect. However, it must be argued that from the view of society a paradox certainly existed. There were those in society who would abandon their children to the state — a state that would employ the child for economic gain as a means of so-called reform — and there were those who would look on the child as a precious creature to be lauded and cherished. In other words, childhood was a state-of-being that some wanted to ignore by putting the child in adult environs such as factory assembly lines while others wanted to simply allow the child to retain their childlike sense of wonder and innocence. One very famous example of the latter is found in the British Royal Family. Prince Albert, particularly, doted on his children on a regular basis. In the work by Sean Coughlan, the writer looks briefly at Victorian life through the lens of the daily activities of the Royal Family. The work highlights the love and care shown to Queen Victoria’s and Prince Albert’s children by the royal couple as seen through life at their vacation home, the Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. Coughlan recounts how, “the house is crammed with images of their nine children” (4). He goes on to explain the family “put on plays” (4) together and that Prince Albert delighted in teaching his children “how to do somersaults, [catch] butterflies with them and gave magic lantern displays” (Coughlan 4). It is in Albert’s delight for his children that the clearest ideal of the cherished child is seen. Therefore, this ideal might be defined as both a fascination with and a delight in childhood that emerged in the Victorian era. To best understand Dickens’ and MacDonald’s advocacy for the ideal of the cherished child one must first see how these authors juxtapose this child with the impoverished child of the era in their writing.
The Impoverished Child in the Selected Works of Dickens and MacDonald
In regard to the impoverished child of the Victorian era, Charles Dickens has much to say on the matter. E.D.H. Johnson, considers the social context and advocacy of Charles Dickens, as gleaned from both his life (the Warren’s blacking factory incident) and works. Johnson suggests that Dickens highlights the “injustice,” “oppression,” and overall “suffering” (Johnson, web) of the poor and the orphan to stir the emotions of his readers and create a sense of “moral outrage” (Johnson, web) toward those who were unable to defend themselves in Victorian society. Dickens is known to do this often in his work, including in such books as Hard Times and Great Expectations. For my purposes I have chosen Oliver Twist, Or, The Parish Boy’s Progress and A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas to give textual evidence of the impoverished child through the emotive writing that Dickens produces.
First, a well-known example of the impoverished child in the works of Charles Dickens is found in the beloved character Oliver Twist. Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist, Or, The Parish Boy’s Progress is a story that follows the life of young Oliver Twist from birth and orphanhood to his adopted home. Dickens gives the reader such detailed insight into the actual conditions of childhood in the Victorian era, particularly where the orphan is concerned. This insight includes but is not limited to workhouse conditions, street life, and the parish orphanage which all lend to the realistic portrayal of the era in which Dickens lived. From the outset of the first chapter, Oliver’s mother dies while giving birth to him and his fate is sealed, being “badged and ticketed, [he] fell into his place at once — a parish child — the orphan of a workhouse — the humble, half-starved drudge — to be cuffed and buffeted through the world — despised by all, and pitied by none” (Dickens, web). Dickens spares no time in letting the reader know what he thinks about the conditions that Oliver will be brought up in. One of the more shocking descriptions of what the impoverished child might face is found in the second chapter, where Dickens describes the horrid conditions of a particular workhouse that Oliver had been delivered to and the neglect a child might face there:
for at the very moment when the child had contrived to exist upon the smallest possible portion of the weakest possible food, it did perversely happen in eight and a half cases out of ten, either that it sickened from want and cold, or fell into the fire from neglect, or got half-smothered by accident; in any one of which cases, the miserable little being was usually summoned into another world. (Dickens, web)
The imagery Dickens conjures here is meant to show his disdain for such establishments while at the same time causing the reader to feel for and invest in the character of Oliver. Dickens was often satirical in nature “orientated towards comedy and sentiment” (Amigoni 38) and often in this novel he uses this literary device to build further apprehensiveness for the plight of the impoverished child. After Oliver meets the endearing Mr. Bumble in the second chapter, Dickens reveals the bureaucratic framework behind the workhouse stating, “The members of this board were very sage, deep, philosophical men; and when they came to turn their attention to the workhouse, they found out at once, what ordinary folks would never have discovered — the poor people liked it!” (Dickens, web) Using further satire, Dickens goes on to explain how lovely the accommodations and the meals of said workhouse are. In doing so, the author has again shown the reader just how detestable the workhouse conditions are in Victorian society.
Another well-known example of the impoverished child’s environment in the works of Charles Dickens is found in A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas. As the story begins, the reader is introduced to the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge sitting in his dim counting house with his lone employee, Bob Cratchit. After a visit from his nephew, Scrooge receives more visitors — two men trying to raise money for those in need of a meal at Christmas. Scrooge inquires, “And the Union workhouses?… Are they still in operation?” (Dickens, Stave One) To which the visitors respond in the affirmative but then follow by saying, “Many can’t go there; and many would rather die.” (Dickens, Stave One) From this declaration one gets the sense of just how bad the conditions of the workhouses were in the Victorian era. Scrooge’s sarcastic questioning of the continuing existence of workhouses would come back to haunt him. While in the presence of the Ghost of Christmas Present, two ghost-like children are revealed to the miser as a very potent example of the impoverished child who might be forced to live in a workhouse: “They were a boy and girl. Yellow, meagre, ragged, scowling, wolfish; but prostrate, too, in their humility.” (Dickens, Stave Three) Scrooge asks concerning their lack of “refuge or resource” (Dickens, Stave Three) Christmas Present then turns Scrooge’s words back on him: “Are there no prisons?” said the Spirit, turning on him for the last time with his own words. “Are there no workhouses?” (Dickens, Stave Three) E.D.H. Johnson speaks to Dickens use of the workhouse saying the following:
The novelist habitually chooses children and distressed members of the working class to awaken moral outrage soon visited by society on its defenseless members. And this oppression is most destructive of human dignity when it assumes an institutional form; for then it operates with complete impersonality, treating its victims like soulless objects. (Johnson, web)
In another eerie example from the story, Scrooge is met by the ghost of his old business partner, Jacob Marley. Marley is clearly haunted by the fact that in life he did not help the poor and needy while in death he could not bring aid though he wanted to. He cries out to Scrooge, “Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!” (Dickens, Stave One) Johnson states, “The moral purpose which sustains Dickens’ work from beginning to end is voiced by Marley’s ghost…” (Johnson, web) Further, as Marley leaves through the window of Scrooge’s bedroom, the latter sees several specters in the night one who was trying desperately to help and, “who cried piteously at being unable to assist a wretched woman with an infant, whom it saw below, upon a door-step.” (Dickens, Stave One) From these scenes near the end of Stave One it becomes clear just how poor and destitute people in the city of London were at the time and just how much someone like Scrooge might have helped if he only had the heart to.
In a book that is strikingly similar to A Christmas Carol, George MacDonald’s At the Back of the North Wind, follows the adventures of a young boy named Diamond. Much like Scrooge is whisked away by the Christmas spirits, Diamond is befriended by and then spirited away through the night sky by the North Wind who shows the boy many things. On one occasion, the North Wind takes Diamond with her to do her cleaning work through London. While there, Diamond meets a young orphan girl whom he befriends. Diamond learns that she lives wherever she can, including in a cellar with an elderly lady named Old Sal (MacDonald, 337) and even, as Diamond himself experiences sleeping by her side in “an empty barrel lying under the arch” (MacDonald, 339). The impoverished girl is said to be a street sweeper and oftentimes she is forced to live out in the elements. Diamond shows pity on the girl, saying “I’m very sorry for you,” to which she replies, “Well, it is a life to be tired of — what with old Sal, and so many holes in my shoes” (MacDonald, 340). From this example one finds another clear picture of what authors Dickens and MacDonald collectively understood of the life of the impoverished child. Amberyl Malkovich states, “Dickens drew upon Victorian culture and society to help inform his work and this can readily be seen from the way he constructed his stories.” (Malkovich, 2) If this is true then it stands to reason that Dickens chose elements of culture and society that interested him or concerned him. Therefore, it is in writing about such individuals as Oliver Twist that Dickens sought to raise social awareness of the plight of a class of children in the Victorian era. Much the same could be said of George MacDonald’s reasoning. Why would they do this? It is the opinion of this writer that they would undergo such a task in their story-building because both authors held to the ideal of the cherished child.
The Ideal of the Cherished Child in the Selected Works of Dickens and MacDonald
With the working definition of the ideal of the cherished child being both a fascination with and a delight in childhood that emerged during the Victorian era, next I’ll consider ways in which Dickens and MacDonald understood the ideal of the cherished child and will show examples of the ideal represented in the selected works of said authors.
Charles Dickens helps to enrich the definition of the ideal of the cherished child in one of his Christmas writings, titled, Christmas Festivities. In this story, Dickens is describing what becomes the picture of the quintessential family Christmas gathering in which extended family has been invited. In speaking of the children present at this event, Dickens says, “Look on the merry faces of your children as they sit round the fire” (Dickens, 1) He goes on to explain that there might be one missing due to tragic death but rather than dwell on the one who is missing, “reflect upon your present blessings” (Dickens, 1) Here Dickens equates children with the idea of blessing. It is easy then to see how Dickens understood the ideal of the cherished child because in this passage he gets very close to instructing the reader to cherish their children gathered around the fire at Christmas time.
There are several examples of the ideal of the cherished child in Oliver Twist. First, is the example of the street girl, Nancy, who, in working for Fagin, has been instructed to help Bill Sikes get young Oliver back. Fagin’s purposes for wanting Oliver are unsavory in nature and, yet, against her better judgment, Nancy helps kidnap the boy. After bringing the boy back to Fagin, Nancy has a change of heart and very vocally regrets her decision. In reply to her outburst, Sikes replies, “A pretty subject for the child, as you call him, to make a friend of!” (Dickens, Chapter XVI) Sikes realizes that Nancy is referring to Oliver as a child that she would make friends with due to her compassion for the boy. She responds by saying, “God Almighty help me, I am!…and I wish I had been struck dead in the street, or had changed places with them we passed so near to-night, before I had lent a hand in bringing him here. He’s a thief, a liar, a devil, all that’s bad, from this night forth.” (Dickens Chapter XVI). Here, Nancy acknowledges that Oliver is a child but once in the employ of Fagin he will become something else. This sentiment shows the juxtapositions of views that existed in the Victorian era between the impoverished child, who was treated as an adult whether in the workhouse or as a street urchin and the ideal of the cherished child who was to be delighted in and thought of as a blessing. A second example from Oliver Twist is in the end as the reader learns of how Mr. Brownlow begins to take to his newly adopted son, Oliver, certainly cherishing the boy: “How Mr. Brownlow went on, from day to day, filling the mind of his adopted child with stores of knowledge, and becoming attached to him, more and more, as his nature developed itself, and showed the thriving seeds of all he wished him to become” (Dickens, Chapter LIII). Third, is an example that expresses the ideal of the cherished child by contrasting Oliver to the adults around him. Dickens often portrays the adults in Oliver Twist as half-witted and over-sensitive, while young Oliver is the sensible character. An example of this contrast is found in Chapter VII, Oliver Continue Refractory, where Oliver is confronted by Mr. Bumble who comes to a non-sequitur conclusion concerning Oliver’s attitude:
“Do you know this here voice, Oliver?” said Mr. Bumble.
“Yes,” replied Oliver.
“Ain’t you afraid of it, sir? Ain’t you a-trembling while I speak, sir?” said Mr. Bumble.
“No!” replied Oliver, boldly.
An answer so different from the one he had expected to elicit, and was in the habit of receiving, staggered Mr. Bumble not a little. He stepped back from the keyhole; drew himself up to his full height; and looked from one to another of the three by-standers, in mute astonishment.
“Oh, you know, Mr. Bumble, he must be mad,” said Mrs. Sowerberry.
“No boy in half his senses could venture to speak so to you.”
“It’s not madness, ma’am,” replied Mr. Bumble, after a few moments of deep meditation. “It’s meat.”
“What?” exclaimed Mrs. Sowerberry.
“Meat, ma’am, meat,” replied Bumble, with stern emphasis.
(Dickens, web)
This selection shows the nonsensical approach that Bumble has to reprimanding Oliver, claiming that the boy is mad because he has been fed well, while showing Oliver to be perfectly sensible. A fourth example of the ideal of the cherished child is seen in Oliver Twist who remains innocent throughout the book despite his circumstances. One description of Oliver says that he “looked the quiet child, mild, dejected creature that harsh treatment had made him” (Dickens, Chapter VI). This picture certainly supports a particular sentiment about the innocence of childhood, especially a childhood such as that of Oliver. While much of the book falls into the category of realism, as cited above, it is the opinion of this writer that in the character of Oliver one finds anti-realism because the boy remains untouched, through and through, by any immoral deed. It is understandable that Dickens wanted to create a lovable character — one that plucked the heart strings of anyone with even the slightest sense of justice. However, the closest Dickens gets to discrediting Oliver’s character is in the boy’s treatment of Noah who has just insulted Oliver’s dead mother. The text says, “Oliver started up; overthrew the chair and table; seized Noah by the throat; shook him, in the violence of his rage, till his teeth chattered in his head; and collecting his whole force into one heavy blow, felled him to the ground” (Dickens, Chapter VI). Dickens has created a scenario in this scene where one is meant to root for young Oliver; one is meant to rationalize the boy’s behavior which helps to keep Oliver’s character untarnished, and one is meant to connect with the ideal of the cherished child. A final example of the ideal of the cherished child in the works of Charles Dickens is found in A Christmas Carol. As the ghost story progresses Ebenezer Scrooge begins to feel concern for Bob Cratchit’s son Tiny Tim. There comes a point when it appears that if the future is not changed then Tiny Tim will die. Because of Scrooge’s change of heart at the climax of the story, the reader learns that “Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did not die, he was a second father.” (Dickens, Stave Five) In this sample one can see how much the once miserly old Scrooge came to love and cherish Tiny Tim.
John Pridmore, argues that George MacDonald “held a high estimate of childhood” (Pridmore 62). By this Pridmore means that MacDonald held the ideal of childhood in high regard. Pridmore further suggests that MacDonald’s view of childhood was developed from prior literature, primarily the poetry of William Wordsworth and Henry Vaughan and the New Testament’s assessment of childhood according to the sayings of Christ, each will be considered in turn. First, in MacDonald’s work, titled, England’s Antiphon he explains which of Wordsworth’s and Vaughan’s works were instrumental in his understanding of childhood, namely that these poets maintained a theological belief that the child maintains some element of purity from having come from the heavenly realms (MacDonald, web). According to Wordsworth, in his poem titled, “From God, who is our home: / Heaven lies about us in our infancy!” (Wordsworth, web) and Vaughan, in his work The Retreat states, “Happy those early days! when I / Shined in my angel infancy. / Before I understood this place / Appointed for my second race,” (Vaughan, web). Furthermore, one of Christ’s most well-known teachings about children is recorded in the Gospel According to Luke where he tells his disciples, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” (Luke 18:16–17, English Standard Version) According to John Pridmore, these sources coalesce in the mind of George MacDonald to create an image of the child that he cherishes and, in turn, writes about often (Pridmore 62). However, it must be noted that there is a distinction in the type of childhood that MacDonald cherishes, for his conclusion is not simply a looking at the fascination with and a delight in childhood as it stands on Earth but rather a looking forward with one’s identity being a child of God. In England’s Antiphons, he states, “…the childhood of the kingdom takes the place of the childhood of the brain, but comprises all that was lovely in the former delight. The heavenly children will subdue kingdoms, work righteousness, wax valiant in fight, rout the armies of the aliens, merry of heart as when in the nursery of this world they fought their fancied frigates, and defended their toy-battlements.” (MacDonald, web, emphasis added) From this statement one can easily see that MacDonald does find delight in Victorian childhood while broadening the definition of the ideal of the cherished child.
The first example of the ideal of the cherished in the fictional works of George MacDonald is taken from At the Back of the North Wind. In this story we see, clearly displayed, a mother’s love for her son. Young Diamond is found by his mother sitting on the back of a horse, consequently named Diamond as well, and though she is terrified of approaching the horse she drums up the courage to do so for the love of her son, the narrator going as far as to say that, “she would have gone into a lion’s den, not to say a horse’s stall, to help her boy.” (MacDonald, 330).
A second sample of the ideal from At the Back of the North Wind comes from a conversation that Diamond and North Wind are having about her size, which is continually changing between a tall, beautiful woman, a small girl and even a tiny faerie-like woman. Diamond is put in his place by North Wind when he thinks less of her being small: “‘Don’t be impertinent, Master Diamond,’ said North Wind. “If there’s one thing makes me more angry than another, it is the way you humans judge things by their size.’” (MacDonald, 344). In this example the little version of North Wind is chastising Diamond for judging her by her size. It could be argued that this is a commentary on an adult’s view of a child in the Victorian era — to think less of the child because they have not reached a respectable level of maturity. However, it is in MacDonald’s commentary on what constitutes maturity that the next example turns.
Finally, in George MacDonald’s last novel, Lilith, the reader is met with a commentary on childhood in contrast to adulthood that is not unlike the idea put forth by Charles Dickens and addressed above in this section. In what could arguably be called MacDonald’s Gothic novel (McLaren, 245), the story follows Mr. Vane, who enters a dark world through a mirror found in the attic of an old mansion. Mr. Vane is met with many challenges along the way to self-discovery. On one occasion the protagonist wanders into a lush valley of sorts and is met by who he refers to as the “Little Ones” (MacDonald, 533). In the opinion of this writer, what follows in this meeting is a clear definition of the ideal of the cherished child, which reinforces the contrast that Dickens made in the third point above between Oliver as the example of a child being sensible and Bumble as the representative adult being half witted. The Little Ones, as Mr. Vane finds, live alone in the valley. How they came to be there is a mystery but they are orphaned or, as Jenny Neophytou, describes them “lost children” (Neophytou, 223) who are simply found without parents in a nearby wood. Mr. Vane describes the children, “like a crowd of grown people in a city, only with greater merriment, better manners, and more sense.” (MacDonald, 531) The Little Ones, in turn, call Mr. Vane, “a good giant” who unlike the other giants has not become “stupid” (MacDonald 531) Furthermore, they claim that the other giants are “too blind to see” them (MacDonald 533). This statement might be viewed as a commentary on how many in Victorian society completely overlooked children or wanted them out of the way while in the context of the story, Mr. Vane states that the Little Ones were “amusing and delighting” to him and “taking all the misery, and much of the weariness out of [his] monotonous toil.” (MacDonald, 534) The toil he speaks of is being forced to work for the other giants and so again a contrast is made between the laborious adult life and the delightful, joy-giving child life. As the interaction progresses it becomes clear that some of the children are becoming adults and the first indication of this change is “traces of greed and selfishness” (MacDonald, 536) arising in the suspects followed by telltale signs of gianthood: laziness, bigness, stupidity and badness (MacDonald, 537). In Unsaying the Commonplace: George MacDonald and the Critique of the Victorian Convention, Kerry Dearborn writes that if the Little Ones were to develop that, “certain types of ‘development’ could mean losing one’s joy, laughter, wisdom, and love of the other” (Gabelman, 89). These attributes are suggested to be the child-like qualities that help to define exactly what type of delight can be found in the ideal of the cherished child.
Conclusion
I’ve considered the paradox of childhood in the Victorian era, being the reality of an often-orphaned impoverished child which contrasted the growing ideal of the cherished child. Several historical considerations were analyzed concerning the number of workhouse children and the need for reform that was, ultimately, unsatisfactory in the view of such Victorian writers as Charles Dickens, who continued to criticize the state-led institutions and their lack of proper care for the impoverished child. While criticizing the establishment, Charles Dickens and George MacDonald used their platform as authors to draw attention to the ideal of the cherished child, being defined herein as a fascination with and a delight in childhood that emerged during the Victorian era. Both Dickens and MacDonald used their fictional and non-fiction writing to express delight in childhood, while making this ideal their own through the development of the ideal of the cherished child in their respective works.
Works Cited
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