As I was reading Little Lord Fauntleroy, I was amazed how different Burnett described and explained childhood of a young boy. We haven’t seen anything like it; In fact, Ragged Dick was the opposite of Cedric.
Like many others, I automatically assumed Frances Burnett was a male. Because symbolizes the Revolutionary War and the relationship between Americans and the British in such depth lead me to automatically assume that she was a male.
It makes much sense now that we discovered that Burnett is actually a female. Cedric is acting as a female substitute. If Ragged Dick or Tom Sawyer were to be put into the elegant velvet suit with a frilly-laced collar like Cedric, they wouldn’t know what to.
I feel as though Burnett was trying to write about the perfect boy and how males should act in general. Through Cedric, Burnett is trying to teach boys in America to live with love and loyalty. She is teaching young boys how to treat their mothers and females in general just as Cedric does in the text. We see a good example in chapter two when Cedric sees that his mother is upset. Burnett wrote, “Then suddenly his loving little heart told him that he'd better put both his arms around her neck and kiss her again and again, and keep his soft cheek close to hers; and he did so, and she laid her face on his shoulder and cried bitterly, holding him as if she could never let him go again.”
Another thing that is amusing to me is the fact that Little Lord Fauntleroy swept the nation. Other texts we have studied about the childhood of a young boy have been so different; I feel like Cedric would almost offend boys through the way he dresses and the way he acts. Dick and Tom Sawyer act so masculine and all of a sudden Burnett publishes this text about such a feminine young boy. I really enjoyed this text and reading about the sweet Cedric but I think this is only because I am a girl. I think it is safe to say that females would enjoy having more boys like Cedric around!
I agree that Burnett was probably basing Cedric off of her idea of a perfect boy. A character like that could only be found in a book or a movie; he is too perfect. I’m glad you pointed out Cedric’s differences from Tom Sawyer and Ragged Dick – there is no way they would have worn those clothes or kept that long hair. Tom and Dick, compared to Cedric, are much more manly.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that the author was basing Cedric as the ideal little boy that everyone should want their child to be like. I think he is way too perfect and unrealistic. I do not think any little boy would be that perfect and proper. I agree with all the differences you pointed out between all the little boys. Obviously Cedric is completely opposite from Dick and Tom.
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