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- Title
Imagining the Child: Bad Parents in the Mid-Eighteenth-Century English Novel.
- Authors
Paxman, David B.
- Abstract
The British novel's history is partly one of discovering the child. Novels of the 1720s depict neglected or abandoned children as a backdrop for adventure and scandal. Three mid-century novels illustrate the growing interest in generational thinking (a concern for children's welfare and future). In Richardson's Clarissa, the Harlowes' rigid authority blinds them from 'recognising', in Ricoeur's sense, Clarissa. In Tom Jones, Fielding shows a deep interest in generational thinking, which guides even Bridget Allworthy, in spite of her other hypocrisies. In Haywood's Betsy Thoughtless, Betsy faces constant moral risk because her surrogate parents ignore or misperceive her developmental needs.
- Subjects
PARENT-child relationships in literature; 18TH century English fiction; CHILD development; TOM Jones (Book : Fielding); RICHARDSON, Samuel, 1689-1761; HAYWOOD, Eliza Fowler, ca. 1693-1756; PARENTS in literature; HISTORY; ENGLISH fiction -- History &; criticism
- Publication
Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies, 2015, Vol 38, Issue 1, p135
- ISSN
1754-0194
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/1754-0208.12163