The ‘Race of Real Children’ and Beyond in Tom Brown’s School Days

Abstract

Compares Hughes’ novel with Wordsworth’s The Prelude to illuminate the philosophical premises underlying Hughes’ concept of childhood. Notes how Hughes’ negative reaction to contemporary ideas about education that stressed the accumulation of information but not character formation links him with the Romantics. Observes some parallels between the novel and the discussion of education in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. Believes Hughes also rejected calls for religious education to begin early, favoring instead the natural development of the imagination.