children in society, historical perspectives quotes
- 10 of
25 Results
In medieval society the idea of childhood did not exist; this is not to suggest that children were neglected, forsaken or despised.... The idea of childhood is not to be confused with affection for children; it corresponds to an awareness of the particular nature of childhood, that particular nature which distinguishes the child from he adult, even the young adult. . . . That is why, as soon as the child could live without the constant solicitude of his mother, his nanny or his cradle- rocker, he belonged to adult society.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
The Abbe Goussault, a counsellor at High Court, writes [at the end of the 17th century]: "Familiarizing oneself with one's childre...n, getting them to talk about all manner of things, treating them as sensible people and winning them over with sweetness, is an infallible secret for doing what one wants with them. . . . A few caresses, a few little presents, a few words of cordiality and trust make an impression on their minds, and they are few in number that resist these sweet and easy methods of making them persons of honour and probity."LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
In 1600 the specialization of games and pastimes did not extend beyond infancy; after the age of three or four it decreased and di...sappeared. From then on the child played the same games as the adult, either with other children or with adults. . . . Conversely, adults used to play games which today only children play.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Until the end of the Middle Ages, and in many cases afterwards too, in order to obtain initiation in a trade of any sort whatever-...-whether that of courtier, soldier, administrator, merchant or workman--a boy did not amass the knowledge necessary to ply that trade before entering it, but threw himself into it; he then acquired the necessary knowledge.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Nothing in medieval dress distinguished the child from the adult. In the seventeenth century, however, the child, or at least the ...child of quality, whether noble or middle-class, ceased to be dressed like the grown-up. This is the essential point: henceforth he had an outfit reserved for his age group, which set him apart from the adults. These can be seen from the first glance at any of the numerous child portraits painted at the beginning of the seventeenth century.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Courtin's manual of etiquette of 1671 explains: "These little people are allowed to amuse themselves without anyone troubling to s...ee whether they are behaving well or badly; they are permitted to do as they please; nothing is forbidden them; they laugh when they ought to cry, they cry when they ought to laugh, they talk when they ought to be silent, and they are mute when good manners require them to replay. It is cruelty to allow them to go on living in this way. The parents say that when they are bigger they will be corrected. Would it not be better to deal with them in such a way that there was nothing to correct?"LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
The general feeling was, and for a long time remained, that one had several children in order to keep just a few. As late as the s...eventeenth century . . . people could not allow themselves to become too attached to something that was regarded as a probable loss. This is the reason for certain remarks which shock our present-day sensibility, such as Montaigne's observation, "I have lost two or three children in their infancy, not without regret, but without great sorrow."LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
It is as if, to every period of history, there corresponded a privileged age and a particular division of human life: "youth" is t...he privileged age of the seventeenth century, childhood of the nineteenth, adolescence of the twentieth.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
In proper English households . . . one writer remembered in the 1630s as a time when, "The child perfectly loathed the sight of hi...s parents, as the slave his Torturer. Gentlemen of 30 or 40 years old, fitt for any employment in the commonwealth, were to stand like great mutes and fools bare headed before their parents; and the Daughters (grown women) were to stand at the Cupboards side during the whole time of the proud mothers visit, unless (as the fashion was) 'twas desired that leave (forsooth) should be given to them to kneele upon cushions brought them by the servingman, after they had done sufficient Penance standing."LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
In former times and in less complex societies, children could find their way into the adult world by watching workers and perhaps ...giving them a hand; by lingering at the general store long enough to chat with, and overhear conversations of, adults...; by sharing and participating in the tasks of family and community that were necessary to survival. They were in, and of, the adult world while yet sensing themselves apart as children.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »