Conceptualizing Cruelty to Children in Nineteenth-Century England: Literature, Representation, and the NSPCC

In her study of the ways in which the plight of abused and neglected children was first recognized and then confronted, Flegel (English, Lakehead University, Canada) blends literary and social history. The growth of the idea of childhood as a separate realm that should be free of care is examined through the growth in Britain of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children as well as novels, articles and poetry showing the pitifulness of the lot of poor children. Throughout the book, Flegel conveys an uneasiness about the methods used for saving children from abuse and exploitation. The comparison between helpless children and animals, for instance, gives one the sense that children are being dehumanized. In her deconstruction of Nicholas Nickleby Flegel notes Dickens' portrayal of middle class parents who force their children into unwanted occupations or marriages for their own benefit. However, it was easier for poor parents to be seen as undeserving and, as her final anecdote suggests, even though the enactment 0f child safety laws was an important step, those laws released individuals from the responsibility of protecting the children of strangers and deflected the emphasis from the overall problem of poverty to the welfare of the voiceless child. Her chapter on the anomaly of the delinquent child is particularly perceptive, relevant to conditions then and now. Annotation c2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Monica Flegel, Department of English, Lakehead University, Canada.