Literature: Little Lord Fauntleroy
A children's book by Frances Hodgson Burnett, originally serialized in St. Nicholas Magazine
in 1885, and published on its own in 1886.
Poor American boy Cedric Errol is a fatherless child growing up in New York City in the 1880s. It's revealed that he is, in fact, the sole remaining heir to the Earl of Dorincourt in England and has the title of Lord Fauntleroy. So Cedric is taken to England to live with the Earl, his grandfather, so that he can learn to be a proper noble. Cedric's mother settles nearby, but the selfish and bitter Earl refuses to acknowledge the commoner his son married.
Over time, Cedric's compassion, intelligence and devotion to social justice capture the Earl's heart, and the old man softens, eventually asking Cedric's mother to forgive him during a crisis that Cedric's friends help solve.
The novel was especially popular with women with small children, since Cedric's fine qualities are explicitly shown to be caused not by his heredity, but the loving relationship he has with his mother. It was quickly adapted for the stage, and Ms. Burnett's successful lawsuit over her rights in regards to theatrical performances established a precedent in copyright law.
It's been adapted for film several times (once with Mary Pickford in the title role!) and into an Anime
series as part of the World Masterpiece Theater
Tropes associated with this book include:
- Adorably Precocious Child: Cedric. Not only is he physically cute, but he was very well-behaved, polite, responsible, is very attached to his mother etc. Basically every mother's dream son, which is not surprising considering it was written by a Victorian era middle class lady. On stage, and in the early movies, he was often portrayed by a girl or young woman to get the cuteness factor right. Mary Pickford, in fact, doubled in the 1921 film adaptation the roles of Cedric and his mother. The 10-year-old Buster Keaton played Cedric on stage. How cute could it be?
- Aristocrats Are Evil: The Earl isn't evil, but he does start the novel as a stuffy, narrow-minded and cold-hearted man. He acknowledges that Cedric will be a better Earl than he ever was.
- Big Fancy House: The Dorincourt estate is either this or a BigFancyCastle
- Dead Guy Junior: Cedric is named after his late father
- Disappeared Dad: Cedric's father dies before the beginning of the book.
- Flanderization: In the novel, the author is careful to show Cedric's masculine athleticism and love of sports. But for many boys of the time, who had mostly seen the less active theatrical versions, what they remembered was a vain, sissified mama's boy.
- The Dutiful Son: Cedric's father was this in comparison to his very disappointing older brothers Beavis and Morris. However, he also fell from grace when he married a commoner from US.
- Grande Dame: Uppah-uppah crust Englishwoman Lady Costanza Lorridale is the kindlier version of this.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Cedric's golden curls reflect his inner goodness and devotion to doing the right thing.
- Little Brother Is Watching: The Earl of Dorincourt becomes less selfish and more considerate, because his grandson Cedric thinks about him as a kind-hearted, generous man and looks up to him, and the earl doesn't want to disappoint the boy.
- Mama's Boy: Cedric, to the point of calling his mother "Dearest."
- Non-Idle Rich: Cedric's mother could live off the money the Earl offers her, but she prefers to work as a seamstress and give the money to the poor.
- Outliving One's Offspring: the three sons of the Earl of Dorincourt are dead.
- The Patriarch: the Earl, albeit not a very nice one.
- Rags to Riches: Cedric is a Sleeping Beauty type. His father was the son of a very rich and anti-American Lord, his mother was the orphaned and much abused lady-in-waiting of a Rich Bitch; they got together despite the Parental Marriage Veto, and after the dad was disinherited they lived a middle-to-poor-class but happy life with little Cedric. It's only after the father's death that Cedric learns his origins and then goes to England to meet his paternal family.
- The Red Stapler: The descriptions of Cedric's adorable velvet-and-lace outfits and long curled ringlets, combined with the excellent illustrations by Reginald Birch, charmed a generation of women into dressing their little boys in a similar fashion. There was a backlash against "Little Lord Fauntleroy"-like outfits for boys a generation later, spearheaded by new fathers who remembered how much they hated these costumes.note The lasting effect of this story is such that it was unacceptable throughout the western world for little boys to have long hair until The Seventies. Eighty-five years!
- Textile Work Is Feminine: Cedric's mother is a seamstress.
- Youngest Child Wins: somehow, as the Youngest Child's child becomes the heir to the title.
Tropes associated with the outfit: