Kingsley, Charles
Kingsley, Charles (1819–75),English novelist, Anglican clergyman, and author of The Water‐Babies (1863), one of the most celebrated Victorian fantasies for children. Subtitled ‘a fairy tale for a land‐baby’, it is a curious but vivacious jumble of moral instruction, scientific fact, pronouncements on the nature of scientific thought and Darwin's theory of evolution, references to forgotten mid‐Victorian controversies, and choleric outbursts of prejudice on topics ranging from ‘frowzy monks’ to the absurd new fashion of dining at eight. Brian Alderson has pointed out how much the book owes to Rabelais, greatly admired by Kingsley, not just with the famous word lists, but also with the deliberate digressions and the satiric fantasy. A striking example of the latter is the fable of the Doasyoulikes which puts evolution into reverse.
It has always been a perplexing story. The dedication to his youngest son...
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