Fantastic and Domestic Girls and the Idolisation of ‘Improving’ Others

Abstract

The protagonists of E. Nesbit’s trilogy of fantasy novels, which comprises Five Children and It (1902), The Phoenix and the Carpet (1904), and The Story of the Amulet (1906),1 act as the first British travellers to historical places and imaginary realms, including a tropical island inhabited by ‘primitives’. Though Nesbit’s stories were not exclusively intended for girl readers, their girl protagonists nevertheless support the imperial project through civilising ‘native’ inhabitants and mothering their brothers away from parental help. British colonialism was grounded in the logic of the parent-child relationship, with the phrase ‘mother country’ used to refer to the imperial centre, marking Britain’s colonies as children in need of development and instruction. Within the language of a parental influence, colonial rule, however, has been largely conceptualised in masculine terms.2 In the first half of this chapter, I consider how Nesbit’s trilogy reconfigures the imperial parent-child/ruler-colony metaphor through the girl protagonist, Anthea, whose maternal capabilities aid not only in exploration, but also in negotiating with and placating indigenous peoples. More pointedly, I propose that Nesbit inserts mothering into the imperial parent-child metaphor.