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Streatham Revisited: the Social and Literary Context of Samuel Johnson's

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Streatham Revisited: the Social and Literary Context of Samuel Johnson's National Library Biiathèque nationale du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliraphic Services services biblïraphiques The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence aîlowing the exclusive permettant à la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sel reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la fonne de microfiche/film, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. Dedicated to my children - Elspeth, Hilary, and Neil May che humanity and humilicy that defined Zohnson in the eighteenth-century find you as you venture forth into the twenty-first! ABSTRACT In 1766, Samuel Johnson wrote a fairy tale. Its purposeful exclusion from anthologies has caused the piece to be little known, even in academic circles. The tale's continued neglect over the years can be explained in part by its omission from Johnsonian biographies, including Boswell's famous Life. The result is chat the traditional notion of a prototypical flrationalist" has dominated discussions of his work, wich little attention given a tale which exposes ànother side of this cornplex wwitxr. This other side of Johnson deserves a closer look. Focussing on Johnson's fairy tale The Foun~ains,chis thesis sims to supply that closer look and to position Johnson in the context ~f ths emerging Fntsrest in childrsnls literacure in his a9s. The support and smpowerrnent chat chis "man of lscters" gave to women writers in the sighteenth csntury, especially to the "lady moraliststu reveals not only Johnson's interast in fairy tales and children's litsrature, but also his charnpioning of a form of literature inconsistent with the txâditional view of him. Seeing Johnson through the eyes of his fair17 cale is cc see a Cohnson who is keenly alive cc the importance of Che imagination and to the rnovement in his age iled especially by women) ro awaken the publicls appreciation for children's iiteraturs. To revisit Streatham is to return to a place which symbolizes the fanciful, irrational Johnson who pemed his fairy tale chere and met with his 'tb~~esï~~kingl'companions. With the insights gainea during tnis revislï, rhe old view of johnson can be dispelled, snabling the re-evaluacion of the writer who def ined his age . iii Introduction Tho purpose of this research is an effort to revise the Samuel Johnson. LLD. Noted in his time and today as one of ~hemost quotable and highly estêemed scholers, the rationalist Gohnson is gênerally known as the opinionated charactêr portrayed in the 1791 biograpnical work published posthumously by James Boçwell. Tt is my hope chat by closely examining the accounts of Johnson as portrayed in his own diaries. in his journalistic prose and in the anecdotes of his confidante Hester Thral? Plozzi. new light might be shed on the compléte cnaracter of Johnson. Aftêr all, this "man of reason", for whom a wnok era of English literature was narnêd, wroïe anà published a faLiy * aié in 1766. Johnson wrote The Fountains: A Fairv Tale miaway between two monurnencal woxks: The Dictionarv of the Enqlish Lanauaqe (1755) and The Lives of the Ynslish FG~~si17RI). In 1765, a year before wricing his whinsical tak, the "great sage" cornpleted the êigh~voiume edicion of Shakêspearê's plays al1 the while writing journa~iscic prose, poetry, and diaries. Thêse rêsulted in the writing style whicn defined Johnson. who i-asicallydefined an age. The "Age of Johnson" spanned nearly four decades (1750- 17841, describing an era in English literature wnich is not dominated on1.j by this person, but also by the Company he was kéeping. 1 have discovêred that the friendç who knew him best were probably not as well known as Edrnund 3urke. Tobias Smollett, Henry Fielding and Cliver Goldsmith. This thesis will ratner connect Johnson to "penningu women, many of whom were involved in writing for children. Some of his friends included early novelists Sarah Fielding and Charlotte Lsnnox; others ir-cl;ld+a 2 "lady rnoraliststl Hannah Mors, Sarah Trimmer and &!na Barbauld. Rscenc scholarship has shown that Johnson was an inspiration and supportêr ni many fernales. Few ties have been made, however. to Zohnson's relationship with those who weré at thê forefront of an êrnerging litera~uréfor children. Thos? who knenl him as an intimate id,as 3est.t~ Lynch piozzi dià, describrd hirn on àifferent Lems chan perhaps would the members of the rlab: The mina of ~hisman was Fndeed expandeci beyond zhs cornmon 1irni~sof naturc.. it resernbkd a royal pieasure-ground, wnere evêry plant ... flourished in ~hefull prfsction of zheir powers . [not] even the antiquatéd evergrêxs wêré denied a place in sorne fit corner of the happy valisy. IjliLl L : 35û) IL is also impêrative tc invêstqate the mctives for Johnson's cornpilacion of ~hefairy talé at a cime when rarr?m. talés in England were noc popular. This lsads =nt zc look ar placing the talr in the coméxr of other works and conwrnporary trends. The tale was written midway between the publication ai Sarah Fielding's The Govrrness: or Licilê Female Academv (1749) halharked as the f irst novel for chilcirsn (which included fairy stories), and the works of the "rnoralists" latex in the renrury. Whether Rousseau or religion motivaced tnérn, their philosophies seemed to frown upon anything rémotely relatêd to the world of the Fma2inatian. Setting rh? taLe in a social and historical ccntext âllows me to view Johnson's living and work environment. This man of lcwly nirth wicnessed iirst-hand thé beginnings of a snift in social hierarchy. Those who workéd hard and wêre highiy rnotivated could achxve, as would his iriênd and publisher John Nèwbery. The ris? of a litéracé 'rniddling' class by che mià-éiyhtèenth century was perhaps résponsible for thrse trends. Th? first was rhe flourishing of zhe new prix world and the drrnisê of the long establisheà hierarchy of thé author md pacron. The result was a fast pacêd commercial reairn ieà ny the princer/publishers who hired writ2rs in 3rd2r co kèêp up wich rhe demand. This opened up opportunities isr néw asp~ringwriftrs, êspecially men of the lower- rniddls ana rniddle class and litsrat? wornen of any class. The second shift was the way in which society perceived chilàron. ay mid-cêntury, ïne influence of the Puritan vision of the family and the jrcwing apprêciation of young childwen led to many advancernen~sin the physical and educatianai care of the Young. The first creatis? on pediatrics by William Cadogan in 1748 proposed the cêssacion of the swaddling of infants; this measure alone led CO healthi(rr childrm with longer l- ife xpectancy (MacDonald 8) . Sreater car? for thîir upbrlrqing was an inwstment in the fuïxre, for many of ths offçpring would continus the grcwing farnily business, çecuring a r-spectable piacc for gezêraïicns to corne. Lastly, and tightly connected to the growth of an afflasnt inidale class, was the anergence of a li~traturefor chilàren. Even chough thé cales of King Arthur, Rcbin Sood anà Zobms:n Crusoe had been appcqxiattd by childrx., it was xt~ntiL zh? icflusrxes of Zobm Locke's Some Tk.suchts Conc2rnina Eaucarion 11533 \ iea ~3 zk degazci f~ren: oyaCis lêarning mâterials was theré a demand for icêms just for ch2 ycurq. :;ohnscnfs on? criïicism of Locke was chat his scheme " [gay~t! roc licïle in licerature" [Boçwell III : 3591 . 9y 1743, Jonn Newbery had set up shop in London and ca~érêd~o chiç éver-expanding market 2r -hikiroz. Amcng his kircd hack writers wsrz th? lik~sof C?~.~elZoknsoz, 3liv-Y Golasmith (who may have authored The Hiçtorv of Liccla Goodv Two-Shoes; anà Christopher Smart, As the century progresced, wornen writérs floodeà into the markêtplace both as authors, and iikê Elizabeth Newbery, . - P as px~~ishersinà gr?atly inr~uenceà- rhe coxrçê of evexs. Many adoptrd, adaptêd and even rebelled against thé then popular educational philosophies laid down by Jean-Jacques Rcusseau in Ernile. Rousseau's ideals of learning proposed èxperience ovsr structura, but it was his distrusc of books, let alonê his distrust of thè i~agination,that later lad many to question him. Initially, nowever, Rousseau implancsd the id-a of an 3xalted new xole for women - tha: of mothêr/educator. Stêphanie de Genlis and Mary Wollstonecrait, latêr followed by Johnson's acquaintances Hannah Mort and Sarah Trimmer, dared to replace th? needle with chê pen; consequently thêir impact on éarly educarion and social ~SSU~Srssonatsd on borh sides of the Atlanric. 12 r2ient yèârs, crirics ;-xi Miïzi Yyars have ancouraged us ro rerêad authors as individuals and ailow 2spèciailv rhe ltssêr known works cc stand on cheir own rncrk. Jusc as ic apppears out of characcer for Johnson ~û hava writtên a fairy talé, so also is it unèxpectêd chat Maria Ecigêworrh and 3annah Moré, "lady ra~ionalists,"wotilà placp -hé pastcral ana imagination iidealization ana rornanïicization of riirdl lifei !~lthir=tkir didactic discourse. Similiarly, elements within Johnson's own 3r332 may alsr kavê prêdicted the romantic sênsibilities embracêd larrêr by writers such as Blake ana Lamb. Samuel Zchnsor's intexest in cnilàren is apparent . < ïhrcughou~21s diarits in3 journals, an "elémeri 2- cis charac~êrwhich Boswell alrnost completely ignoreà" iîlifiord 69).
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