Child as Cure: The Idealized Child in the Works of Frances Hodgson Burnett

Abstract

This thesis traces the figure of the idealized child through three of Frances Hodgson Burnett's children's books: Editha's Burglar (1888), Little Lord Fauntleroy (1886), and The Secret Garden (1911). In all three books Frances Hodgson Burnett introduces child characters who have a nuanced understanding of the world around them that allows them to cure the brokenness in the adult world. Burnett's use of the child figure and of illness as a representation of flaws in society reflected increased focus on these topics in the nineteenth century; they also rose from her belief in mind cure. This thesis examines the source of the curative power each protagonist wields, the impacts of their cure, and what the need for cure says about the larger society and the characters themselves. It also emphasizes how this cure was shaped by the children's gender and socioeconomic status. I argue that throughout all three works Burnett's protagonists take on traits of the idealized child to restore the world to her view of the natural world order. In doing this, Burnett reaffirms traditional family structure, separate spheres ideology, and class hierarchy.