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Little Lord Fauntleroy
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- Fauntleroy redirects here. For other uses see Fauntleroy (disambiguation).
Little Lord Fauntleroy is the first children's novel written by English–American playwright and author Frances Hodgson Burnett. It was originally published as a serial in the St. Nicholas Magazine between November 1885 and October 1886, then as a book by Scribner's in 1886. The accompanying illustrations by Reginald Birch set fashion trends and Little Lord Fauntleroy also set a precedent in copyright law when in 1888 its author won a lawsuit against E.
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Encyclopedia
- Fauntleroy redirects here. For other uses see Fauntleroy (disambiguation).
Little Lord Fauntleroy is the first children's novel written by English–American playwright and author Frances Hodgson Burnett. It was originally published as a serial in the St. Nicholas Magazine between November 1885 and October 1886, then as a book by Scribner's in 1886. The accompanying illustrations by Reginald Birch set fashion trends and Little Lord Fauntleroy also set a precedent in copyright law when in 1888 its author won a lawsuit against E. V. Seebohm over the rights to theatrical adaptations of the work.
Plot
Little Lord Fauntleroy opens in mid 1880s Brooklyn, New York. Cedric Errol is a poor American boy from New York City, who, when his father dies, learns that he is the sole heir to a wealthy British earldom. Cedric is now Lord Fauntleroy, who someday will be the next Earl of Dorincourt in England.
Cedric must move to England and join his grandfather, the Earl, in Dorincourt Castle. His American mother is housed nearby, but is not allowed to visit the castle or see the Earl.
The old and selfish Earl is impressed by the appearance and intelligence of his young American grandson, and charmed by his innocent good-fellowship. He later states that Cedric, who has befriended and cared for the poor and needy around him, will be a better earl than he was.
A crisis shames the Earl into asking Cedric's mother to forgive him. With the help of Cedric's loyal American friends, the crisis is resolved.
The Earl of Dorincourt had intended to teach his grandson how to be an aristocrat. However, Cedric inadvertently teaches his grandfather that an aristocrat should practice compassion and social justice towards persons who are dependent on him.
Through Cedric's belief in his grandfather's goodness and through his good example, the old Earl becomes the kind and good man Cedric always believed him to be, and Cedric is reunited with his mother, who comes to live in the castle with Cedric and the Earl.
Impact on fashion
The Fauntleroy suit, so well-described by Burnett and realized in Reginald Birch's detailed pen-and-ink drawings, created a major fad for formal dress for American middle-class children:
- "What the Earl saw was a graceful, childish figure in a black velvet suit, with a lace collar, and with lovelocks waving about the handsome, manly little face, whose eyes met his with a look of innocent good-fellowship." (Little Lord Fauntleroy)
The Fauntleroy suit appeared in Europe as well, but no where was it as popular as America. The classic Fauntleroy suit was a velvet cut-away jacket and matching knee pants worn with a fancy blouse with a large lace or ruffled collar. These suits appear right after the publication of Mrs. Burnett's story (1885) and was a major fashion until after the turn of the 20th century. Many boys who did not wear an actual Fauntleroy suit, wore suits with Fauntleroy elements such as a fancy blouse or floppy bow. Only a minority of boys wore ringlet curls with these suits, but the photographic record confirms that many boys did. It was most popula for boys about 3-8 years of age, but some older boys wore them as well. It has been speculated that the popularity of the style encouraged many mothers to breech their boys earlier than before and was a factor in the decline of the fashion of dressing small boys in dresses and other skirted garments.
The style was modelled upon the so-called "Van Dyke", a standardized fancy dress of the 18th century that was loosely based on children's costume in court circles of Charles I. Thomas Gainsborough's "fancy picture" The Blue Boy epitomizes the "Van Dyke". Until the onset of Romanticism towards the end of the 18th century, small children had been dressed as miniature versions of their elders. Clothing Burnett popularized was modeled on the costumes she tailored herself for her two sons, Vivian and Lionel.
In the generation before World War I, when all boys under the age of ten were in short pants, under the influence of Birch's illustrations for Little Lord Fauntleroy many middle-class American boys were dressed in velvet suits with lace collars and sashes and short knee-pants, and to have their hair curled into long ringlets like Cedric, a mode that was considered aristocratic. (Upper-class American boys were in school uniforms modelled on British ones; the upper-class "fancy dress" counterpart of the Fauntleroy suit was a sailor suit with short pants.)
After revivals of the fad connected with Mary Pickford's film and the 1936 classic with Freddie Bartholomew, the onset of World War II consigned such outfits to attics.
Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
There have been several movie versions of the book produced throughout the years:
- Little Lord Fauntleroy (1914)
- Little Lord Fauntleroy, a 1921 film starring Mary Pickford.
- Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936), arguably the best-known adaptation, with a cast including Freddie Bartholomew, Dolores Costello, C. Aubrey Smith as the Earl of Dorincourt, and Mickey Rooney
- (made for TV)
- (made for TV) starring Ricky Schroder, Connie Booth, Eric Porter and Sir Alec Guinness as the Earl. The film was shot at Belvoir Castle, Leicestershire
- 1988 (Japanese anime featuring 43 episodes called "Shoukoushi Cedie")
- (TV miniseries starring Michael Benz and George Baker as the Lord
- Filipino version (starring Tom Taus as Cedie and Ronaldo Valdez as Earl of Dorincourt). It was inspired by the entry of the anime version Cedie, The Little Prince in the early 90's, which became a hit in the Philippines.
- (Radosti i pechali malen'kogo lorda), Russian version
Modern usage
"Little Lord Fauntleroy" is now most often used as a term of derision. It describes a pompous spoiled brat, usually a young male, who takes his wealth and privilege for granted (though this is obviously not consistent with the original character).
Literature
Early examples of derisive use are found in Richmal Crompton's Just William books.
In Anne Rice's Blackwood Farm, Tarquin is called a Little Lord Fauntleroy by his mother.
In Kurt Vonnegut's Slapstick.
Music
Aphex Twin references Little Lord Fauntleroy in his remix of "Come To Daddy," on his 1997 EP of the same name.
The Upper Crust use the term in their song "Little Lord Fauntleroy."
They Might Be Giants refer to Little Lord Fauntleroy in the song "Fake-Believe" on their album Here Come the ABCs.
Television
In Two and a Half Men (season 4, episode 22), Charlie calls Jake "Little Lord Fart-leroy."
In Firefly's pilot episode ("Serenity"), Malcolm Reynolds refers to runaway doc (and federal fugitive) Simon Tam as "Lord Fauntleroy."
In The West Wing ("Lord John Marbury," season 1, episode 11), Chief of Staff Leo McGarry (John Spencer) refers to British diplomat Lord John Marbury (Roger Rees) as "Lord Fauntleroy."
Cinema
In Four Rooms, Ted uses the term "Little Lord Fauntleroy" to describe the awkward style in which he was dressed as a child.
In Tom Green's film Freddie Got Fingered, Gordy's father (played by Rip Torn) mocks his son at the dinner table, saying "Oh, Little Lord Fauntleroy's stomach hurts because there's too much roast beef in it!"
Cartoons
According to Disney canon, Donald Duck's full name is is "Donald Fauntleroy Duck."
Comics
In the comic strip FoxTrot written by Bill Amend, Peter babysits a dog called Fauntleroy who keeps trying to bite him.
External links
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