Peter, Potter, Rabbits, Robbers

Authors

  • Rose Lovell-Smith University of Auckland, New Zealand

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21153/pecl2009vol19no1art1154

Keywords:

Beatrix Potter, fantasy, realism, cultural contexts, literary contexts

Abstract

Critical discourses about realism and fantasy in children's literature have in the past included discussion of the merits, and demerits, of these conventions as they differently engage child readers. Beatrix Potter's works, situated at an intersection of the two literary conventions, seem to me rather to invite a useful complication of the distinction commonly made between them. Potter is clearly a fantasist. Yet aspects of her work support a scholarly tendency to claim her for realism, and this is often done by connecting Potter's life and works. In this essay I join those who have turned Potter studies towards investigating the cultural and literary contexts within which she worked.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

Author Biography

  • Rose Lovell-Smith, University of Auckland, New Zealand

    Rose Lovell-Smith is a Senior Lecturer in the English Department, University of Auckland, where she convenes a course called Children’s Literature: Words and Pictures. Her teaching and research interests include nineteenth- century fiction, feminist writing and women’s fiction, oral literature and the fairy tale, and women’s rewriting of fairy tales. She is currently working on a historical study of the illustrated book for older children, which will contain a chapter on Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit Series, and has published recently on the natural history contexts of both words and pictures in Lewis Carroll’s Alice books.

References

Balfour, Graham (1901) The Life of Robert Louis Stevenson, 2nd ed. London, Methuen.

Cummins, June (2002) “You should not loiter longer”: Beatrix Potter, Christina Rossetti, and progressive intertextual revision”, in Margaret Mackey (ed) Beatrix Potter’ s Peter Rabbit: A Children’ s Classic at 100. Lanham, MD., Scarecrow Press, pp. 79-98.

Davis, Susan E. & Margo Demello (2003) Stories Rabbits Tell: A Natural and Cultural History of a Misunderstood Creature. New York, Lantern Books.

Gaskell, Elizabeth (1987) Wives and Daughters (1867). Ed. Angus Easson. Oxford, Oxford UP.

Golden, Catherine (1994) “Beatrix Potter: Naturalist artist”, in Bill Katz (ed) A History of British Book Illustration: 29 Points of View. The History of the Book 1. Metuchen, N.J.; London, Scarecrow Press, pp. 626-641.

Goldthwaite, John (1996) The Natural History of Make-Believe: A Guide to the Principal Works of Britain, Europe and America. New York, Oxford UP.

Greene, Graham (1969) “Beatrix Potter”, in Sheila A. Egoff, G.T. Stubbs, L.F. Ashley (eds) Only Connect: Readings on Children’ s Literature. New York, Oxford UP, pp. 291- 98.

Harris, Joel Chandler (1955) The Complete Tales of Uncle Remus. Boston, Houghton Mifflin.

Hobbs, Anne Stevenson & Joyce Irene Whalley (1985) Beatrix Potter: The V & A Collection: The Leslie Linder Bequest of Beatrix Potter Material. London: Victorian and Albert Museum/Frederick Warne.

Hollindale, Peter (2002) “Humans are so Rabbit”, in Margaret Mackey (ed) Beatrix Potter’ s Peter Rabbit: A Children’ s Classic at 100. Lanham, MD., Scarecrow Press, pp. 161-172.

Jefferies, R. (1978) The Gamekeeper at Home; The Amateur Poacher (1878 and 1879). Oxford: Oxford UP.

Lane, Margaret (1962) The Tale of Beatrix Potter (1946). Harmondsworth: Penguin.

Lane, Margaret (1978) The Magic Years of Beatrix Potter. London; New York, Frederick Warne.

Lear, Linda (2007) Beatrix Potter: A Life in Nature. New York, St Martin’s Press.

Linder, Leslie (1971) A History of the Writings of Beatrix Potter: Including Unpublished Work. London; New York, Frederick Warne.

Linder, Leslie and Enid (1972) The Art of Beatrix Potter. Rev.ed. London; New York, Frederick Warne.

Mackey, Margaret (ed) (2002) Beatrix Potter’ s Peter Rabbit: A Children’ s Classic at 100. Lanham, MD., Scarecrow Press.

Noonan, Chris (dir) (2006) Miss Potter. Weinstein Company.

Paul, Lissa (2002) “Beatrix Potter and John Everett Millais: Reproductive technologies and coolhunting”, in Margaret Mackey (ed) Beatrix Potter’ s Peter Rabbit: A Children’ s Classic at 100. Lanham, MD., Scarecrow Press, pp. 53-75.

Pollard, Scott & Kara Keeling (2002) “In Search of his father’s garden”, in Margaret Mackey (ed) Beatrix Potter’ s Peter Rabbit: A Children’ s Classic at 100. Lanham, MD., Scarecrow Press, pp. 117-130.

Potter, Beatrix (1987) The Tale of Peter Rabbit (1902). London: Frederick Warne.

Potter, Beatrix (2002) The Tailor of Gloucester (1903). London: Frederick Warne/Penguin

Potter, Beatrix (2002) The Tale of Benjamin Bunny (1904). London: Frederick Warne/Penguin.

Potter, Beatrix (2002) The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies (1909). London: Frederick Warne/Penguin.

Potter, Beatrix (2002) The Tale of Mr Tod (1912). London: Frederick Warne/Penguin.

Prideaux, William Francis (1917) A Bibliography of the Works of Robert Louis Stevenson. London, F. Hollings.

Scott, Sir Walter (1998) Rob Roy (1817), ed. Ian Duncan. Oxford; New York, Oxford UP.

Stevenson, Robert Louis n.d. “An Old Scotch Gardener” (1887), in Memories and Portraits http://www.fullbooks.com/Memories-and-Portraits1.html. London, Chatto and Windus edition (1912). Scanned and proofed by David Price. Accessed 19/5/09.

Taylor, Judy (1986) Beatrix Potter: Artist, Storyteller and Countrywoman. London, Frederick Warne.

Taylor, Judy, Joyce Irene Whalley, Anne Stevenson Hobbs, & Elizabeth M. Battrick (1987) Beatrix Potter: The Artist and her World. London, Frederick Warne/National Trust/Penguin.

Thackeray, William Makepeace (1983) Vanity Fair (1847-8). Ed. John Sutherland. Oxford: Oxford UP.

Trollope, A (date unk.) An Eye for an Eye. Place of publication unk., Hard Press.

Downloads

Published

2009-01-01

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

“Peter, Potter, Rabbits, Robbers” (2009) Papers: Explorations into Children’s Literature, 19(1), pp. 17–29. doi:10.21153/pecl2009vol19no1art1154.

Similar Articles

1-10 of 133

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.