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Youth of Darkest England examines the representation of English working-class children, the youthful inhabitants of the poor urban neighbourhoods that a number of writers dubbed "darkest England", in Victorian and Edwardian imperialist literature. In particular, the book focuses on how the writings for and about youth undertook an ideological project to enlist working class children into the British imperial enterprise. Lucidly written and thoroughly researched, this book will make a major contribution to our understanding of youth culture and children's literature in the nineteenth century.
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Youth of Darkest England Youth of Darkest England Working-Class Children at the Heart of Victorian Empire TROY BOONE Routledge New York • London Published in 2005 by Routledge 270 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10016 www.routledge-ny.com Published in Great Britain by Routledge 2 Park Square Milton Park, Abingdon Oxon OX14 4RN U.K. www.routledge.co.uk Copyright © 2005 by Routledge Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group. This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” Chapter 4 first appeared in a different form as “Remaking ‘Lawless Lads and Licentious Girls’: The Salvation Army and the Regeneration of Empire” in John C. Hawley, Historicizing Christian Encounters with the Other, 1998, Macmillan Press Ltd. Reprinted by permission of the publisher. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Boone, Troy, 1963– Youth of darkest England : working-class children at the heart of Victorian empire / by Troy Boone. p. cm. — (Children's literature and culture ; 34) Includes bibliographical references (p. 209 ) and index. ISBN 0-415-97262-0 (hb : alk. paper) 1. Children's literature, English—History and criticism. 2. Children—Books and reading—English-speaking countries—History—19th century. 3. American literature—19th century—History and criticism. 4. English literature—19th century— History and criticism. 5. Children's literature, American—History and criticism. 6. Working class in literature. 7. Imperialism in literature. I. Title. II. Series. PR990.B66 2005 820.9'3523'09034—dc22 ISBN 0-203-99721-2 Master e-book ISBN 2004019682 For my parents Contents Series Editor’s Foreword ix Acknowledgments xi List of Illustrations xv Introduction 1 Chapter 1 Henry Mayhew’s Children of the Streets 19 Chapter 2 Class, Violence, and Mid-Victorian Penny Fiction: “Murder Made Familiar”? 43 Improving Penny Fiction: The “Ticklish Work” of Treasure Island 65 Remaking Lawless Lads and Licentious Girls: The Salvation Army and the Regeneration of Empire 85 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 The Boy Scouts and the Working Classes 107 Chapter 6 Patriot Games: Football and the First World War 133 Notes 163 Bibliography 209 Index 225 vii Series Editor’s Foreword Dedicated to furthering original research in children’s literature and culture, the Children’s Literature and Culture series includes monographs on individual authors and illustrators, historical examinations of different periods, literary anal