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https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/revolutionary-influence-first-english-childrens-novel-180982724/>
"It’s a universally familiar phrase. Ask any English-speaking adult or child,
and they will recognize the label “goody two-shoes” as derogatory shorthand for
an insufferable prude—but few remember how it became a staple of popular
culture.
Before her name became synonymous with sickly-sweet virtue, Goody Two-Shoes was
the protagonist of the first English children’s novel,
The History of Little
Goody Two-Shoes. First published in 1765, the book was a groundbreaking work.
It tells the life story of an orphaned girl, Margery Meanwell, whose poverty
reduces her to rags—and to wearing just one shoe. When her fortunes improve and
she acquires some new footwear, her excitement earns her the nickname “Goody
Two-Shoes.”
For more than a century, this largely forgotten Cinderella story broke social
and literary barriers while delighting readers. The book appeared in many
editions in England and the United States, and it was beloved among famous
writers like Robert Southey and Jane Austen, who kept her childhood copy until
her death. One of the earliest works of children’s literature, Margery
Meanwell’s adventures offered a striking alternative to prevailing gender
norms. Over the course of the novel, Margery teaches herself to read, foils a
major robbery, founds a school, earns her own living, stands up for animal
rights and overcomes accusations of witchcraft. She was everything that 18th-
and 19th-century British society thought women shouldn’t be: poor,
well-educated, self-made and unmarried (at least until the last few pages).
Margery was wildly popular and one of the first heroines whom juvenile readers
admired. It’s no stretch to say that the novel launched and definitively shaped
children’s literature as a genre intended to entertain young readers while
teaching foundational values like generosity, hard work and the virtues of
education. It continues to exert an enormous, if forgotten, influence on
culture today: Anyone who unconsciously quotes its title has been shaped by
this book without knowing it."
Via Muse.
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
