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Mary Louisa Molesworth and Victorian Children's Fiction (1) a Similarly Warm Reception

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Mary Louisa Molesworth and Victorian Children's Fiction (1) a Similarly Warm Reception Mary Louisa Molesworth and Victorian Children's Fiction (1) For some popular writers of the past centuries, fame as a writer did not prove everlasting. It is not uncommon, though, to rediscover among those who no longer maintain their popularities to the present day, a few who have left indelible achievements for the history of literature. Mary Louisa Molesworth (1839-1921), generally known as Mrs. Molesworth, was one of the most successful children's writers of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. She was a remarkably prolific writer, and her publications went up to more than a hundred stories, including Carrots: Just a Little Boy (1876) and The Cuckoo Clock (1877), the works for which she is still best known.1 Mrs. Molesworth had a good start in her career as a children's writer, but her way of entering this professional field was not straightforward. Initially she intended to be a novelist, as is evident from her earliest books that were not written for children but were novels in three volumes. Her first publication in 1870 was Lover and Husband, followed successively by three more novels, She Was Young and He Was Old, Not Without Thorns, and Cicely: A Story of Three Years. It was in 1875, five years after her first publication, when Mrs. Molesworth published Tell me a Story, her first children's book. Although she did not first choose to write for children, she was encouraged by Sir Joseph Noel Paton, a family friend, to become a children's writer.2 － 225 － Yoko Takami Noel Paton's acute judgement was soon to be fully justified, for Mrs. Molesworth's talents as a children's author were early recognised by her contemporaries. For instance, a review in The Athenaeum on Tell me a Story praised her effusively. So delightful that we are inclined to join in the petition, and we hope she may soon tell us more stories.3 Naturally, Mrs. Molesworth rejoiced at the positive responses to her book, and they undoubtedly brought her great excitement and hopes to pursue her career in this field. Ten years later she related her positive feelings at being so favourably reviewed: The first volume of stories I published, "Tell me a Story," was partly made up of tales that had already appeared, partly of original ones. And its success, though much less than that of "Carrots," the following year, was so great as quite to surprise me, and make me determine to give to stories for children all the time I could then spare for writing.4 During the following two years after Tell me a Story, Mrs. Molesworth published Carrots and The Cuckoo Clock, which achieved remarkable success. Even with this, however, she did not completely stop writing for adults, and she subsequently published some novels such as Miss Bouverie in1880 and Marrying and Giving in Marriage in 1887. Nevertheless, the approving comments on her first books for children indubitably encouraged Mrs. Molesworth's motivation and confidence to become a writer for children. In practice, Carrots and The Cuckoo Clock met with － 226 － Mary Louisa Molesworth and Victorian Children's Fiction (1) a similarly warm reception. The Examiner pronounced Carrots: One of the cleverest and most pleasing stories it has been our good fortune to meet with for some time. 'Carrots' and his sister are delightful little beings, whom to read about is at once to be become very fond of. Still more admiringly, The Pall Mall Gazette referred to The Cuckoo Clock as a 'beautiful little story,' adding: It will be read with delight by every child into whose hands it is placed.... Ennis Graham [Mrs. Molesworth's early pseudonym] deserves all the praise that has been, is, and will be, bestowed on The Cuckoo Clock. Children's stories are plentiful, but one like this is not to be met with every day. From these reviews, it seems that Mrs. Molesworth received assurance of success from the very beginning. The praise she received from her contemporary critics no doubt contributed to her popularity and enhanced her reputation as a children's writer, laying a cornerstone in the course of her long career, during which she was to produce many stories for Victorian and Edwardian children. As in general, most literary texts reflect the author's own life and thoughts to some degree, Mrs. Molesworth too drew upon some background information and inspiration for her stories from her own experiences. Therefore a certain extent of familiarity with her life is imperative for a thorough understanding of her work. Mary Louisa Stewart, later Molesworth, was born on 29 May 1839, in Rotterdam, － 227 － Yoko Takami Holland, although her family left continental Europe and returned to England before her second birthday. She was the eldest daughter of Charles Augustus Stewart (c.1809-1873) and his wife Agnes Janet (1810- 1883), whose maiden name was Wilson. Mary Louisa was the second of six children, and all three of her brothers died in early adult life.5 Her father, Charles Augustus Stewart was a successful merchant. He was the son of Major General Stewart of Strath, Caithnesshire, who was a military man, whose services were rewarded with a grant of land in New South Wales.6 He is said to have encouraged his son to follow a military career, though Charles did not take his father's footsteps, choosing instead to engage in commerce. Charles's business became prosperous, and Mary Louisa seems to have been brought up in relatively comfortable circumstances as a member of a wealthy middle-class family in Manchester. Her family was perhaps not exactly 'very' wealthy,7 but all the same Mrs. Molesworth enjoyed all of the benefits that her privileged background offered. Her education―especially the earlier years of it― was mostly private, which was given by her mother, who, according to Roger Lancelyn Green, was 'an unusually well-educated woman who had spent some time in France and probably had distant relations in that country.' It seems that Mary Louisa, too, was well educated for a girl in those days, not only did she attend a boarding school in Switzerland but she also received private lessons from the Reverend William Gaskell, the husband of Elizabeth Gaskell. Green even alludes to the possibility that Mary Louisa had some tuition from Mrs. Gaskell herself. As Margaret J. Baker suggests, it is said that Mr. Gaskell encouraged her to write.8 Green quotes a comment by Susanna Winkworth about her sister Catherine: 'it was under Mr. Gaskell's guidance...that she gained her wide knowledge of English literature, and her keen appreciation of style. Her － 228 － Mary Louisa Molesworth and Victorian Children's Fiction (1) own mind was stimulated by his rich and varied culture, rare critical power, and exquisite refinement of taste.'9 Mrs. Molesworth was a girl who felt that, unlike her love of reading, learning to write 'was wretchedness and misery.' She mentioned in one of her articles: 'not till I was fourteen did I ever attempt anything of the kind "seriously," even from a child's point of view.'10 When she was about fourteen, she spent her brief period at her Swiss boarding school, and it was after returning to England that she attended Reverend Gaskell's lessons. Mrs. Molesworth stated in the same article: And the best work I ever did, up to the age of seventeen or so, was translation. For this, too, I have always been grateful. It taught me―thanks to the exceptional excellence of the teacher, himself a perfect master of a style, a writer far less known by name than he deserved to be―it taught me, by really thoughtful effort, command of language, just appreciation of words, unconfused with any attempt at using my own crude and immature material, till years and a developed imagination had improved my powers of invention; and to my delight, not unmingled with surprise, I found the means of expression ready and full-grown, waiting to be used. Providing some solid training in the wide range of literary skills, his lessons helped significantly to form the essential foundation of Mrs. Molesworth's future as a children's writer. On 24 July, 1861, Mary Louisa married Richard Molesworth, the eldest son of Captain Oliver Molesworth, R.A., who was the third brother of the seventh Viscount Molesworth of Swords and Baron Phillipstown － 229 － Yoko Takami of Phillipstown in Ireland. Richard Molesworth began his military career as a Lieutenant during the Crimean War in 1855. He received a shrapnel wound to the head during the conflict, which the doctors were not able fully to remove. Continuing his military service, he accompanied his regiment to India, returning to England in 1860. He was then promoted to Captain in the following year. Describing Richard Molesworth as a 'young, handsome, gallant' man, Mary Louisa's sister, Caroline Marian, later recalled, it was a most real love match: she loved Richard dearly and they were young and happy together, whatever happened later.11 Their married life was probably not a smooth one in several ways. For instance, even after her marriage, Mrs. Molesworth supposedly had some financial support from her own family―'her father,' says Green, at the time after their marriage, 'like so many other successful business men of the period, was able to rent an old country seat from its impoverished owner.' Also, regarding the personality of her husband, there is an interesting comment from one of Richard's relatives: Mrs. Molesworth told me herself that he had a very violent temper, and that her mother did not want the marriage for that reason; but she trusted to her own love and tact to keep it under control.
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