Avery, Gillian (with the assistance of Angela Bull).
Nineteenth Century Children: Heroes and Heroines in English Children’s
Stories 1780-1900 (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1965).
Though Kingsley in real life did not like the punishing of children, believing
that misbehavior often has a physical cause and that punishment can undermine
a child’s relationship with his parents, punishment is a major theme in
The Water-Babies. Avery declares that Kingsley wishes to point
the moral that punishment is the natural consequence of sin. She also
states that education is the primary purpose of The Water-Babies,
“the education of the child to become the honest English gentleman that was
Kingsley’s ideal” (49). Holding that education and teaching are quite
distinct, Kingsley depicts Tom’s trials and subsequent learning and the final
attainment of grace as constituting his true education.
The Water-Babies
;
Punishment of Children
; Children
; Education
.
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