Imagining the Child: Bad Parents in the Mid-Eighteenth-Century English Novel.

The British novel's history is partly one of discovering the child. Novels of the 1720s depict neglected or abandoned children as a backdrop for adventure and scandal. Three mid-century novels illustrate the growing interest in generational thinking (a concern for children's welfare and future). In Richardson's Clarissa, the Harlowes' rigid authority blinds them from 'recognising', in Ricoeur's sense, Clarissa. In Tom Jones, Fielding shows a deep interest in generational thinking, which guides even Bridget Allworthy, in spite of her other hypocrisies. In Haywood's Betsy Thoughtless, Betsy faces constant moral risk because her surrogate parents ignore or misperceive her developmental needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]