COVE

Authority figures have always been present in didactic texts either in the form of parents or of God. Throughout time, as books became more about entertaining than instructional, these authority figures have seemed to disappear. For example, while the authority figure appears in the always watching eyes of God in Mary Martha Sherwood's The History of the Fairchild Family (1818, 1847),  the absence of any authority can be seen just as clearly in texts such as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865). Other stories such as Anne of Green Gables (1908) fall somewhere in between these two extremes and include authority figures who do not exert complete control. Overall, the varying presence of authority figures shows how they are a necessity in didactic texts, but a hindrance to entertaining ones.

Florence Rudland, "She Took Two or Three Damsons, Which She Ate in Great Haste," in The Fairchild Family (1847), by Mary Martha Sherwood, 1902 edition. 

Stories in The Fairchild Family (1818) are meant to teach children about the role of God, and because of this, there is a very clear presence of authority. In one such story, "The All-Seeing God," God's presence becomes apparent when one of the Fairchild children steals sweets. This image depicts that act. It shows Emily Fairchild taking damsons from a jar kept in the closet. She knows she is not supposed to take them, yet she does anyway, continuing to take the sweets for many days until she becomes sick. It looks as if she is going to die, and her siblings and parents are distraught. Eventually she gets better, but she feels very guilty for her act of thievery and for deceiving her parents. The moral is that although no one seems to be watching her take the damsons, God is watching, and He punishes her for it. Clearly the presence of authority figures is very important in didactic texts, usually with God being a strong presence. In many cases, as with this one, teaching children about the presence and authority of God is the purpose of the didactic text. 

Frontispiece, The History of The Fairchild Family (1847), by Mary Martha Sherwood, 1854 edition.

This picture is a frontispiece to an 1854 version of The History of The Fairchild Family , which, as seen in the previous caption, contains strong authority figures. In one story in this book, "Story on the Sixth Commandment," Mr. Fairchild teaches his children a lesson about fighting with one another. The story starts with Emily and Lucy fighting and Mr. Fairchild having to break them up. In order to teach them a lesson, he brings the children to see a man hanging in chains and tells the story of how that man got there.  The man's mother would not punish her children and wouldn't let anyone else either. These spoiled children would then treat the servants terribly with no one to discipline them, until one day they began fighting with each other. Roger, the man in chains, then stabbed his brother and hid the body in a ditch, but he pays for his crime. This story has both a clear presence of God and parents, but it is the parents this time who provide the teaching, policing, and overall authority in the story. Mr. Fairchild, seen in the frontispiece, is the authority who scolds the children and teaches them the lesson to not quarrel.

M. A. and W. A. J. Claus, "Balanced Herself Uprightly on That Precarious Footing," in Anne of Green Gables (1908), by L. M. Montgomery.

Whereas didactic texts show overpowering and overbearing authority figures, texts such as Anne of Green Gables (1908) steer away from this great presence of authority. Although there are religious elements in the book, the presence of God is never something that scares Anne away from doing anything, nor a presence that causes lasting consequences to Anne's actions. The presence of parents is also not as great in this book as in didactic texts. Although Marilla does parent Anne, there are many times throughout the book where Marilla is not present. The image pictured shows one of these times when Anne decides to walk across the roof after being dared to do so. Marilla is also not as harsh of a parent as Mr. Fairchild, usually telling Anne that what she does is wrong or having her stay in her room for awhile, but certainly never bringing her to see a dead man hanging in the woods.

Beatrix Potter, "'Now My Dears,' Said Old Mrs. Rabbit," in The Tale of Peter Rabbit (1902), by Beatrix Potter. 

This image shows Peter's mother telling him not to get into any mischief at the beginning of the book, one of the few times she appears. The rest of the story Peter is free from any authority figures who could reprimand him for his behavior, causes mischief, and does what he pleases. Peter gets into trouble in Mr. McGregor's garden, and still there is no authority to scold him or any clear sign of God punishing him. Even in the end when his mother comes back into the tale,  she does not reprimand him harshly, but makes him tea and puts him to bed. There is very little presence of authority, and even when it is present in this story, it is in a softer way. Peter Rabbit's mother does not scold him but instead takes care of him after his day of mischief. This softer parenting style is similar to that of Marilla in Anne of Green Gables (1908); punishment is not the force driving the parenting.

John Tenniel, "She Tried the Little Golden Key in the Lock," in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865), by Lewis Carroll.

In the classic story of Alice, there seem to be no authority figures whatsoever. In Wonderland, Alice is free to do whatever she pleases and is not subject to any lasting punishment, which is drastically different than in the didactic texts.  In the very beginning of the book, she wants to get through the door pictured, so she decides to drink from a bottle and eat a cake, acting similar to Emily in The Fairchild Family (1818). Emily gets punished by God for this act of eating something that is not hers, but Alice is not reprimanded by God or parents. The entire book is filled with Alice accomplishing acts with no fear of getting in trouble with any authority, and it is a very entertaining text partly because Alice is in charge of her own adventure.