Ethics Narrative Of Victorian Children’s Literature

The concept of "children’s literature" in the modern sense did not emerge until 1744,at the beginning of John Newbery’s children’s book publishing career.A century or so later,during the Victorian era(1837-1901)in England,children’s literature was in its golden age.Moral admonition and indoctrination,as one of the traditional characteristics of children’s literature,also showed its own solidity in this golden period of British children’s literature.This paper analyzes the ethical narrative of Victorian children’s literature through a close reading of texts.Specifically,this paper analyzes Victorian children’s literature texts from three aspects.First of all,focusing on the family relationship in the story,I discuss the specific connotation of family norms that the writer conveys to children in the story from the two subjects of children and parents.Regarding children,different types of reading materials were prepared for boys and girls during the Victorian period in order to shape the ideal gender temperament.Regarding parents,writers still incorporate traditional family concepts into their stories,emphasizing the patriarchal authority of parents,especially fathers.Secondly,pay attention to the emphasis of the story on social order,different novels show different moral orientations,some strive to uphold traditional ethical values,and some actively explore the ethical orientation of the modern future.Finally,considering that Britain in the 19 th century was in the thriving period of imperial colonization,the fourth chapter of this paper selects the classic overseas colonial novels of this period as the object,combined with Darwinian evolution to analyzes how colonialist writers rationalize the immorality of imperial expansion.Besides adventure novels imply imperial ideology while promoting the traditional spirit of capitalism.In short,fantasy is an ancient expression of children’s stories,while moral indoctrination is a classic tradition that runs through the words and pictures that children read.