Hello, I'm Richard Nicholas Nimz, prospector of the written word. This summer, I'm going to be doing things a little differently. This time, my blog posts are going to be focused on examples of how children's literature used to be, although I will still review the books I bring up (though I will not be posting another person's review). With that said, let's get started with Unknown Author's The History of Little Goody Two Shoes.
No, this book didn't invent the term, but it did popularize it (sans meaning). Stay sharp, it's not the only thing you might be surprised at during this review.
Source: Goody Two Shoes: A facsimile reproduction of the edition of 1766. (2004). Original work published 1766. Retrieved from: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/13675/13675-h/13675-h.htm
Plot: An honest farmer by the name of Meanwell is bankrupted by his vile landlord and driven to an early death. Shortly thereafter, his wife dies, leaving his two children, Tom and Margery, to fend for themselves. However, Tom is lost at sea, leaving Margery alone to find her own way. However, she finds a way to fend for herself, becoming a tutor, then a teacher, and by the grace of God, Mrs. Goody Two Shoes comes to a good end.
Summary: If you're looking to be entertained by this book, bear in mind it comes from a different time. The pacing moves like a Bugatti but is packed to the gills with detours with lessons to teach the impressionable children. The characters are all extremely shallow, and the book often comes off as overly idealistic. This is a product of the time, when children were seen as impressionable minds that had to be carefully instructed lest they turn to damnation, a viewpoint that persists to this day in some corners.
In its historical context, though, I love it. It's not hard to see that Christianity is on a lesser pedestal than previously, and though I'm fine with that, it's often accompanied by propaganda that's nothing short of venomous, characterizing it as the source of all evils in a modern society, complacency and superstition, among others (Doctor Who, I'm looking at you). This book goes far to dispel all of that. Yes, it comes from an earlier time where some of its values, like relentless preaching, are frowned upon now, but many of its values are timeless.
For example, after a house collapses, the author takes time out of the story to urge readers to make Parliament work to protect them. That's something a lot of adults still don't do in a more secularized world. In addition, when the main character is accused of being a witch, another character gives a very long speech about how a belief in witchcraft is superstition that disfavors elderly and impoverished women. Yes, a book preaching both Christianity and the evils of witch-hunts; it's not as odd an idea as you think. It's the source of possibly my favorite quote:
"Sir William Dove, who was on the Bench, asked [Margery's] Accusers, how they could be such Fools, as to think there was any such Thing as a Witch. It is true, continued he, many innocent and worthy People have been abused and even murdered on this absurd and foolish Supposition; which is a Scandal to our Religion, to our Laws, to our Nation, and to common Sense..."
Yes, this could be said about any religious disagreement, but for the longest time, Christianity did not believe in witchcraft or any kind of supernatural idea bar the Holy Trinity. Malleus Maleficarum was immensely unpopular on its release in 1487 and was banned by the Roman Catholic Church three years later. Heck, thirty years before this book was published, the Witchcraft Act made it a crime to accuse someone of being a witch. Seeing that passage in this book lifts my spirits, not only as a Christian, but as someone who knows a bit about history. Though it's not as entertaining as it once may have been, a lot of what it stands for is still undeniable.
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