Reading Victorian Schoolrooms

Childhood and Education in Nineteenth-Century Fiction

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, Children&, British
Cover of the book Reading Victorian Schoolrooms by Elizabeth Gargano, Taylor and Francis
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Elizabeth Gargano ISBN: 9781135861223
Publisher: Taylor and Francis Publication: October 31, 2013
Imprint: Routledge Language: English
Author: Elizabeth Gargano
ISBN: 9781135861223
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Publication: October 31, 2013
Imprint: Routledge
Language: English

Reading Victorian Schoolrooms examines the numerous schoolroom scenes in nineteenth-century novels during the fraught era of the Victorian education debates. As Gargano argues, the fiction of mainstream and children’s writers such as Dickens, Brontë, and Carroll reflected widespread Victorian anxieties about the rapid institutionalization of education and the shrinking realm of domestic instruction.

As schools increasingly mapped out a schema of time schedules, standardized grades or forms, separate disciplines, and hierarchical architectural spaces, childhood development also came to be seen as regularized and standardized according to clear developmental categories. Yet, Dickens, Brontë, and others did not simply critique or satirize the standardization of school experience. Instead, most portrayed the schoolroom as an unstable site, incorporating both institutional and domestic space.

Drawing on the bildungsroman’s traditional celebration of an individualized, experiential education, numerous novels of school life strove to present the novel itself as a form of domestic education, in contrast to the rigors of institutional instruction. By positioning the novel as a form of domestic education currently under attack, these novelists sought to affirm its value as a form of protest within an increasingly institutionalized society. The figure of the child as an emblem of beleaguered innocence thus became central to the Victorian fictive project.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Reading Victorian Schoolrooms examines the numerous schoolroom scenes in nineteenth-century novels during the fraught era of the Victorian education debates. As Gargano argues, the fiction of mainstream and children’s writers such as Dickens, Brontë, and Carroll reflected widespread Victorian anxieties about the rapid institutionalization of education and the shrinking realm of domestic instruction.

As schools increasingly mapped out a schema of time schedules, standardized grades or forms, separate disciplines, and hierarchical architectural spaces, childhood development also came to be seen as regularized and standardized according to clear developmental categories. Yet, Dickens, Brontë, and others did not simply critique or satirize the standardization of school experience. Instead, most portrayed the schoolroom as an unstable site, incorporating both institutional and domestic space.

Drawing on the bildungsroman’s traditional celebration of an individualized, experiential education, numerous novels of school life strove to present the novel itself as a form of domestic education, in contrast to the rigors of institutional instruction. By positioning the novel as a form of domestic education currently under attack, these novelists sought to affirm its value as a form of protest within an increasingly institutionalized society. The figure of the child as an emblem of beleaguered innocence thus became central to the Victorian fictive project.

More books from Taylor and Francis

Cover of the book The German Question by Elizabeth Gargano
Cover of the book The Invisible Resource by Elizabeth Gargano
Cover of the book Applied Photovoltaics by Elizabeth Gargano
Cover of the book Political Women by Elizabeth Gargano
Cover of the book The Conduct of Inquiry in International Relations by Elizabeth Gargano
Cover of the book Early Child Care and Education in Finland by Elizabeth Gargano
Cover of the book William Shakespeare by Elizabeth Gargano
Cover of the book Stories From the Heart by Elizabeth Gargano
Cover of the book The Shakespearean World by Elizabeth Gargano
Cover of the book The Reform of Housing in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union by Elizabeth Gargano
Cover of the book An Introduction to Political Philosophy (Routledge Revivals) by Elizabeth Gargano
Cover of the book Restructuring by Elizabeth Gargano
Cover of the book Melanie Klein Today, Volume 1: Mainly Theory by Elizabeth Gargano
Cover of the book Migrants and Their Children in Britain by Elizabeth Gargano
Cover of the book Workers' Rights and Labor Compliance in Global Supply Chains by Elizabeth Gargano
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy