Magical Growth and Moral Lessons; or, How the Conduct Book Informed Victorian and Edwardian Children's Fantasy

Victorian and Edwardian writers of children's fantasy appropriated the codes and forms of the conduct book in their works. Using the aegis of an adult guide and the medium of dialogue, authors such as Kingsley, Carroll and MacDonald applied these to the growth and development of their central characters. According to Ostry, Carroll mocks these conventions and later the children in E. Nesbit's works will develop their own morality in the absence of an adult guide. Thus the children in these fantasies progress from needing instructive, moral dialogues to independence, and self-control. The children learn to create their own dialogues and teach themselves.