Charlotte Yonge, The Daisy Chain

Talia Schaffer (Queens College, CUNY)
Download PDF Add to Bookshelf Report an Error
The Daisy Chain

(1856) may be Charlotte M. Yonge's most popular novel. Like Yonge's other family sagas,

The Daisy Chain

traces the development of several siblings over decades (continued in its sequel,

The Trial

). Ethel must relinquish her self-taught Greek, and even abjure spectacles, in order to be properly feminine: she must devote herself to domestic duties and pursue church-related missions. Yonge clearly regarded Ethel's indoctrination as an exemplary case of self-discipline over weak indulgence, and developed the character into a perhaps autobiographical case study in how to have a satisfying life as a spinster. Similarly, Ethel's brilliant brother Norman gives up his extraordinary academic career to become a missionary. The other May children undergo forms of moral training as…

130 words

Citation: Schaffer, Talia. "The Daisy Chain". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 24 January 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=1150, accessed 19 March 2024.]

1150 The Daisy Chain 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.