The Show Must Go On? The Child, the State and The Altar of Public Amusement
‘The child is the foundation of the State and the first line of defence. We cannot lay too much stress upon the importance of the child if the State is to endure’. Sentiments such as these epitomized what late Victorian society believed was its enlightened attitude towards child protection and which...
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| Опубликовано в: : | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/cve, |
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| Главный автор: | |
| Формат: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Язык: | Anglais |
| Опубликовано: |
Cahiers victoriens et édouardiens
2025
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| Online-ссылка: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Итог: | ‘The child is the foundation of the State and the first line of defence. We cannot lay too much stress upon the importance of the child if the State is to endure’. Sentiments such as these epitomized what late Victorian society believed was its enlightened attitude towards child protection and which culminated in the famous Children’s Charter of 1908. But how did such lofty sentiments translate into the confusion of day-to-day reality? When placed, for instance, against the growing demand for child performers to feed the insatiable appetite of the new ‘leisure industry’ so prominent a feature of late nineteenth century society, did children’s needs still come first? Were they still ‘the children of the nation’ or merely, for a brief time, the sacrificial lambs on the ‘altar of Public Amusement’? |
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