Victorian Childhood

This assignment is worth 17 points!


What was Victorian childhood like?

“On the one hand the child was the source of hope, of virtue, or emotion: along with the angelic wife, he was the repository of family values which seemed otherwise to be disappearing from an increasingly secular world.... But at the same time, and of course much less obviously, the child was a hardship, an obstacle to adult pleasure, and a reminder of one's baser self. He might be innocent, untainted by sexual knowledge, uncorrupted by the world of business, free from the agony of religious doubt; yet he was also potentially wicked and needed constant guidance and discipline.”

LuAnn Walthe ("The Victorian Invention of Childhood")

In your own words, what is the author above describing about childhood? What is contradictory here (3 points)?

Against Idleness And Mischief
Isaac Watts

How doth the little busy bee
Improve each shining hour,
And gather honey all the day
From every opening flower!

How skillfully she builds her cell!
How neat she spreads the wax!
And labours hard to store it well
With the sweet food she makes.

In works of labour or of skill,
I would be busy too;
For Satan finds some mischief still
For idle hands to do.

In books, or work, or healthy play,
Let my first years be passed
That I may give for every day
Some good account at last.

How Doth The Little Crocodile
Lewis Carroll

How doth the little crocodile
Improve his shining tail,
And pour the waters of the Nile
On every golden scale!

How cheerfully he seems to grin,
How neatly spread his claws,
And welcome little fishes in
With gently smiling jaws!

Response to Poetry

On a loose-leaf sheet of paper, and in complete sentences answer the following questions about the poems “Against Idleness And Mischief” and “How Doth The Little Crocodile” as completely as possible. Each question is worth 2 points, except #6, which is worth 4 points.

1. What is the main idea of “Against Idleness and Mischief?”
2. What is the busy bee like? What is it doing throughout the poem? Look back at “Against Idleness and Mischief” for examples.
3. What is the main idea of “How doth the Little Crocodile?”
4. What is the crocodile like? What is it doing throughout the poem? Look back at “How Doth The Little Crocodile” for examples.
5. Contrast the alligator and the bee. How are they different?
6. Choose one important action that each animal (bee and crocodile) does in their poem. Write a short poem about each action.