Frances Hodgson Burnett

From New World Encyclopedia
Frances Hodgson Burnett

Frances Hodgson Burnett, (November 24, 1849 - October 29, 1924) was an English–American playwright and author. She is best known for her children's stories. Little Lord Fauntleroy was a number one best seller in 1886, became popular as a play, immortalized her son’s curls and velvet suits, and later was made into a silent movie with Mary Pickford. The Secret Garden, called a masterpiece in children’s literature, became popular after her death and not until it was re-illustrated in the 1960s. A later work, The Little Princess, is the story of a war orphan living in a British attic who in the end finds her father and meets Queen Victoria.

The rags-to-riches themes of her stories echo her own rise from impoverished beginnings to international authoress. She was criticized in the press for being ‘scandalous’ - but then so was the dance craze the turkey trot - due to her flamboyant victorian era clothing, her divorce, her many travels, and her literary circle of friends and their parties. However, she never forgot the hardships of her childhood and was generous in funding various projects, particularly those involving children.

She was a trendsetter in her day, breaking new ground for other writers by fighting for copyright laws – both in the U.S. and in Great Britain. Her life spanned two continents until she received American citizenship in 1905 and settled on Long Island. She was buried there, a statue of her son looking like an older Lord Fauntleroy at the foot of her grave, pays tribute to her not only as writer, but as mother.

Childhood and early stories

Born Frances Eliza Hodgson in Manchester, England, she emigrated to Knoxville, Tennessee in the United States after the death of her father in 1864. The American Civil War's economic effects were felt in England when demand for exports dropped off. Unable to maintain the family business after the death of her husband, Frances' mother moved them to be near a brother in America. Financially he was unable to help the family much and for a period of time they lived in a log cabin like other pioneer families.

Frances was often teased about her writing by her older brothers so she often wrote in secret. Lacking paper or proper materials she would write her stories on the back of old grocery lists. When she did not have the necessary postage to mail in a story to a magazine her and older sister Edythe picked wild grapes on a hillside in order to earn stamp money. Her first story was published in the women's magazine, Godey's Lady's Book in 1868. She was 18 years old and earned ten dollars a week as a writer, enough to support her siblings after their mother died when Frances was just 21. From then on she was published regularly in Scribner's Monthly, Peterson's Ladies' Magazine and Harper's Bazaar. Her stories were known as "potboilers." Although by today's standards they would seem tame back then they were considered riveting and scintillating. Her talent lay in combining realistic detail - down to authenticly accented dialogue - with a romantic plot.

Marriage and first novels

Her childhood friend and neighbor Swan Burnett asked for Frances' hand in marriage several times over a seven year period. Although, she claimed she did not love him she acquiesced to the social pressures of the time which dictated that a woman's place was in the home. They married in 1873 and she supported her husband with her writing while he worked on his medical degree. They moved to Paris to further her husband's medical studies and their first son, Lionel was born the following year. Their second son, Vivan was born in 1876 and the family then moved to Washington D.C.

Her first novel was published in 1877; That Lass o' Lowrie's was a story of Lancashire life. It was a resounding success both at home and abroad. However she learned her first difficult lesson in copy right law when, upon her move back to America, she was unable to receive royalties for the British edition of the book.

Other novels written during her years of living in Washington were Haworth's (1879), Louisiana (1880), A Fair Barbarian (1881), and Through One Administration (1883), as well as a play, Esmeralda (1881), written with William Gillette, someone she would have a long association with through her craft.

During this time, Frances became well known for her love of Victorian attire, fabulously adorned with feather boas, buttons and lace (once when they had a house fire she went back in and rescued her clothes) and for her Tuesday conversation groups. At one point the Burnetts lived next door neighbor to James Garfield and when he ran for president her sons "campaigned" for him by hanging out the upstairs windows. Demonstrating a definite flair for the dramatic herself, Frances was nicknamed "Fluffy" by her family and signed her letters "Fluffina." However, she was often away from home travelling to Boston to visit her friends the Halls and other literary acquaintances. With the Halls she explored a spiritual philosophy called Theosophy which later forms the basis for the little boy in The Secret Garden, Cedric's, attempt to heal himself through positive affirmations.

Frances Burnett's blue plaque in central London

Little Lord Fauntleroy and Copyright struggles

In 1886 she published her piece de resistance, Little Lord Fauntleroy. Her son, Lionel was the one who encouraged her to write it by asking, "Why don't you write a book that a little boy would like to read?" As it turns out, although it was written as a children's book it had a wide appeal especially with mothers. Little boys most certainly chafed at the new fashion craze based on Oscar Wilde's attire of lace and velvet and the illustrations of Reginal Birch. Little Lord Fauntleroy, like megahits today, generated merchandizing souvenirs such as, outfits, toys, playing cards, and other various themed paraphanalia. The story told of a little boy in America who, upon the death of his father, discovers a long lost grandfather, a member of British aristocracy, and learns that he, himself, is an Earl. Thenceforth he begins a new life as "Little Lord Flaunteroy". This book captured the imagination of the public with its fascinating detail about life in the upper echelons of British society. It sold more than a half million copies.

A visit to London and Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee in 1887 would provide the inspiration for another book, Sara Crewe (1888), later re-published under the title, The Little Princess (1905). Some have compared Frances' childhood to that of Sarah Crewe's, the plucky, resourceful heroine, the "little princess", who rises above difficult circumstances to find her father. A chance meeting with Queen Victoria provides the resolution to the story.

Meanwhile, while in London, Burnett discovered that someone was staging a theatrical production of Little Lord Fauntleroy. She quickly retaliated and wrote her own version of the play which was a big success drawing audience members such as Prince Edward, Victoria's son. Learning her lesson from previous copyright troubles she decided to sue the playwright, Seebohm, for violating the Copyright Act of 1842. The courts sided with her on this. She set a precedent whereby playwrights needed to gain permission from authors before using their works. The Society of British Authors feted Burnett, hosting a dinner in her honor, and presenting her with a diamond ring and bracelet. Up until this point in her career she had been well known but now she was to return to America, an international celebrity.

Back in New York Little Lord Fauntleroy was to become a successful play and toured throughout the states playing to sell-out audiences.

Tragedy and Spirituality

In 1890 tragedy struck when her oldest son died of tuberculosis. This dreadful disease was the number one cause of fatalities in America during in year?. For a period of time she tried to nurse Lionel back to health but he faded slowly and passed away, only 16 years of age. Burnett and her husband, already living separate lives on different continents, decided to divorce, nearly unheard of in that time (1898). She then entered into a troubled marriage with her business manager, Stephen Townesend who was ten years her junior. She was criticized once again in the press for being 'scandalous' by marrying someone so much younger, whose intentions toward her were decidedly unclear. Once again, Frances flouted convention by questioning the usual rules governing women's behavior in those days. In 1902, less than two years after they married, they parted ways and eventually Burnett returned to America for what would be her final move after receiving citizenship in 1905.

In her grief she found comfort through her spiritual philosophy; her later works reflect her beliefs. Written during World War I, The White People.is a novella about a Scottish woman with "second sight", meaning that she can see dead people, or ghosts. In the Closed Room is about a little girl who forms a friendship with a young playmate who is actually a ghost, in a locked room in the house. The book's ending is surprisingly eerie.

Hurt by the press and in mourning Burnett refused interviews. In her reclusivity, she decided to work on a memoir of her own childhood, up until the age of 18 called The One I Knew The Best (1893).

Her later works also include - The Lady of Quality (1896) - considered one of the best of her plays and The Lost Prince, published in 1915.

End of Life and The Secret Garden

Although she is best remembered for The Secret Garden, written after she moved to Plandome, Long Island, Little Lord Flauntlory was the favorite during her lifetime. Many of Frances Hodgson Burnett's books have been forgotten, however, the enduring classic - The Secret Garden - is still in print and in 1989 was re-released by four publishers. The updated illustrations by Tasha Tudor, richly detailed and victorian in style, helped to make the book an endearing classic.

The story of The Secret Garden follows a young British girl, orphaned in India when cholera strikes, who must return to live with a strange and reclusive uncle in England. There she discovers his son, Cedric, hidden away due to handicap and illness, in a bedroom on the large estate. Together they renew the garden behind the wall that has been neglected since the death of his mother many years ago. In their secret garden even a robin befriends the lonely children. The characters in the book, unhappy and unloved in the beginnng, find renewal not only through the garden but through helping one another.

Frances' life echoes her fiction when she builds her own walled English garden on her estate at Plandome, Long Island. Reportedly, it was filled with roses and hollyhocks and one can imagine her looking out on it while she writes. Her last book In the Garden was written while she was ill, often confined to bed, and at the end of her life. Perhaps speaking of her own experience with loss and renewal in life she wrote:

When you have a Garden
You Have a Future
And when you have a Future
You are Alive!

Frances Hodgson Burnett died peacefully at home on October 29, 1924 and was buried in the Roslyn cemetary, on Long Island.

Screen Adaptations

External links

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