Question
Explain the novels written for the young.
Solution
The novels for the young:
(i)Novels for young boys idealised a new type of man: someone who was powerful, assertive, independent and daring. Most of these novels were full of adventure set in places remote from Europe.
(ii)The colonisers appear heroic and honourable – confronting ‘native’ peoples and strange surroundings, adapting to native life as well as changing it, colonising territories and then developing nations there.
(iii)Books like R.L. Stevenson’s 'Treasure Island' or Rudyard Kipling’s 'Jungle Book' had become great hits. G.A. Henty’s historical adventure novels for boys were also wildly popular during the height of the British empire. They aroused the excitement and adventure of conquering strange lands.
(iv)They were set in Mexico, Alexandria, Siberia and many other countries. They were always about young boys who witness grand historical events, get involved in some military action and show what they called ‘English’ courage.
(v)Love stories written for adolescent girls also first became popular in this period, especially in the US, notably 'Ramona' by Helen Hunt Jackson and a series entitled 'What Katy Did' by Sarah Chauncey Woolsey, who wrote under the pen-name Susan Coolidge.
(i)Novels for young boys idealised a new type of man: someone who was powerful, assertive, independent and daring. Most of these novels were full of adventure set in places remote from Europe.
(ii)The colonisers appear heroic and honourable – confronting ‘native’ peoples and strange surroundings, adapting to native life as well as changing it, colonising territories and then developing nations there.
(iii)Books like R.L. Stevenson’s 'Treasure Island' or Rudyard Kipling’s 'Jungle Book' had become great hits. G.A. Henty’s historical adventure novels for boys were also wildly popular during the height of the British empire. They aroused the excitement and adventure of conquering strange lands.
(iv)They were set in Mexico, Alexandria, Siberia and many other countries. They were always about young boys who witness grand historical events, get involved in some military action and show what they called ‘English’ courage.
(v)Love stories written for adolescent girls also first became popular in this period, especially in the US, notably 'Ramona' by Helen Hunt Jackson and a series entitled 'What Katy Did' by Sarah Chauncey Woolsey, who wrote under the pen-name Susan Coolidge.
