Tom Brown's School Days (sometimes written Tom Brown's Schooldays, also published under the titles Tom Brown at Rugby, School Days at Rugby, and Tom Brown's School Days at Rugby)[1][2] is a novel by Thomas Hughes, published in 1857. The story is set in the 1830s at Rugby School, an English public school. Hughes attended Rugby School from 1834 to 1842.
The novel was originally published as being "by an Old Boy of Rugby", and much of it is based on the author's experiences. Tom Brown is largely based on the author's brother George Hughes. George Arthur, another of the book's main characters, is generally believed to be based on Arthur Penrhyn Stanley (Dean Stanley). The fictional Tom's life also resembles the author's, in that the culminating event of his school career was a cricket match.[3] The novel also features Dr Thomas Arnold (1795–1842), who was the actual headmaster of Rugby School from 1828 to 1841.
Tom Brown's School Days has been the source for several film and television adaptations. It also influenced the genre of British school novels, which began in the nineteenth century, and led to fictional depictions of schools such as Mr Chips's Brookfield, and St Trinian's. A sequel, Tom Brown at Oxford, was published in 1861.
Synopsis
Tom Brown is energetic, stubborn, kind-hearted and athletic, rather than intellectual. He follows his feelings and the unwritten rules of the boys.
The early chapters of the novel deal with his childhood at his home in the Vale of White Horse. Much of the scene setting in the first chapter is deeply revealing of Victorian Britain's attitudes towards society and class, and contains a comparison of so-called Saxon and Norman influences on the country. This part of the book, when young Tom wanders the valleys freely on his pony, serves as a contrast with the hellish experiences in his first years at school.
Illustration by Godefroy Durand for the 1875 French edition of the novel
His first school year is at a local school. His second year starts at a private school, but due to an epidemic of fever in the area, all the school's boys are sent home, and Tom is transferred mid-term to Rugby School.
On his arrival, the eleven-year-old Tom Brown is looked after by a more experienced classmate, Harry "Scud" East. Tom's nemesis at Rugby is the bullyFlashman. The intensity of the bullying increases and after refusing to hand over a sweepstake ticket for the favourite in a horse race, Tom is deliberately burned in front of a fire. Tom and East defeat Flashman with the help of Diggs, a kind, comical, older boy. In their triumph they become unruly.
In the second half of the book, Dr Thomas Arnold (1795–1842), the historical headmaster of the school at the time, gives Tom to the care of George Arthur, a frail, pious, academically brilliant, gauche, and sensitive new boy. A fight that Tom gets into to protect Arthur, and Arthur's nearly dying of fever, are described in detail. Tom and Arthur help each other and the friends develop into young gentlemen who say their nightly prayers, do not cheat on homework, and play in a cricket match. An epilogue shows Tom's return to Rugby and its chapel when he hears of Arnold's death.
Main characters
Tom Brown, a mid-term newcomer to Rugby School who learns many life lessons there[lower-alpha 1]
George Arthur, a frail newcomer whom Tom guides as East had guided him
Major themes
A main element of the novel is Rugby School, with its traditions, and the reforms that were instituted there by Dr Arnold (1795–1842), the headmaster of the school from 1828 to 1841. He is portrayed as the perfect teacher and counsellor, and as managing everything behind the scenes. In particular, he is the one who "chums" Arthur with Tom.
The central theme of the novel is the development of boys. The symmetrical way in which Tom and Arthur supply each other's deficiencies shows that Hughes believed in the importance of physical development, boldness, fighting spirit, and sociability (Tom's contribution) as well as Christian morality and idealism (Arthur's).
The novel is essentially didactic and was not primarily written as an entertainment. As Hughes said:
Several persons, for whose judgment I have the highest respect, while saying very kind things about this book, have added, that the great fault of it is 'too much preaching'; but they hope I shall amend in this matter should I ever write again. Now this I most distinctly decline to do. Why, my whole object in writing at all was to get the chance of preaching! When a man comes to my time of life and has his bread to make, and very little time to spare, is it likely that he will spend almost the whole of his yearly vacation in writing a story just to amuse people? I think not. At any rate, I wouldn't do so myself.
The book contains an account of a game of rugby football, the variant of football played at Rugby School (with many differences from the modern forms). The book's popularity helped to spread the popularity of this sport beyond the school.
In Japan, Tom Brown's School Days was probably the most popular textbook of English-language origin for high-school students during the Meiji period (1868–1912).[10] In 1899, an abridged version of the book (omitting chapter 9 of part 1, and chapters 5 and 7 of part 2) was published in Japanese translation. A subsequent, two-part, Japanese translation by Tsurumatsu Okamoto and Tomomasa Murayama appeared in 1903 and 1904, which, in addition to the previous omissions, also omitted the scene at the cricket match, due to the translators' stated ignorance of the game of cricket.[10] In the preface to this version, the translators praised the British education system, citing the example of the friendship between Tom and Dr Arnold as an example of how to raise a great nation. Another partial translation, consisting only of part 1 of the book, was released in 1912 by schoolteacher Nagao Tachibana. A fourth translation, also abridged, by Sada Tokinoya arrived in 1925. Finally, a complete translation was released in 1947 that eventually ran to ten separate editions.[10]
Dramatic adaptations
Tom Brown's School Days has had several screen adaptations, including:
In the 1940 U.S. film, the role of Dr Thomas Arnold was portrayed by Cedric Hardwicke, Tom Brown was played by Jimmy Lydon, and Freddie Bartholomew played East. The role of Dr Thomas Arnold as a reform-minded educator was given greater prominence than in the novel. The entertainment journal Variety praised this, saying, "It probably results in a better picture, since Cedric Hardwicke, who plays the wise and kindly teacher, is much better qualified to carry a story than is any Hollywood prodigy. Hardwicke’s performance is one of the best he has ever given on the screen".[11] In the 1951 British film, Robert Newton portrayed Thomas Arnold, and John Howard Davies portrayed Tom Brown.
The character of Flashman was adapted by the British writer George MacDonald Fraser as the adult narrator and hero (or anti-hero) of his popular series of "Flashman" historical novels called The Flashman Papers. In one of them, Flashman in the Great Game, the character whom Fraser named Harry Flashman reads Tom Brown's School Days, which refers to his youth, and its popularity causes him a few social troubles. Fraser's Flashman novels also include several other characters from Tom Brown's School Days, for example George Speedicut and Tom Brown himself in the book Flashman's Lady. Flashman also encounters the character of "Scud" East twice, first in Flashman at the Charge, when both he and East are prisoners of war during the Crimean War, and again in Flashman in the Great Game, at the Siege of Cawnpore during the Indian Mutiny of 1857.
Winterbottom, Derek. Thomas Hughes, Thomas Arnold, Tom Brown and the English Public Schools (Alondra Books, Isle of Man, 2022), 216 pp., ISBN No. 978-0-9567540-9-7. online on The Internet Archive.
Notes
↑ The Rev. Augustus Orlebar was alleged to have been the person on whom Hughes based Tom Brown,[4] though Hughes' brother, George, seems a more plausible candidate.[5]
Related Research Articles
Rugby School is a public school in Rugby, Warwickshire, England.
Sir Harry Paget Flashman is a fictional character created by Thomas Hughes (1822–1896) in the semi-autobiographical Tom Brown's School Days (1857) and later developed by George MacDonald Fraser (1925–2008). Harry Flashman appears in a series of 12 of Fraser's books, collectively known as The Flashman Papers, with covers illustrated by Arthur Barbosa and Gino D’Achille. Flashman was played by Malcolm McDowell in the Richard Lester 1975 film Royal Flash.
Thomas Arnold was an English educator and historian. He was an early supporter of the Broad Church Anglican movement. As headmaster of Rugby School from 1828 to 1841, he introduced several reforms that were widely copied by other noted public schools. His reforms redefined standards of masculinity and achievement.
Thomas Hughes was an English lawyer, judge, politician and author. He is most famous for his novel Tom Brown's School Days (1857), a semi-autobiographical work set at Rugby School, which Hughes had attended. It had a lesser-known sequel, Tom Brown at Oxford (1861).
Tom Brown at Oxford is a novel by Thomas Hughes, first published in serial form in Macmillan's Magazine in 1859. It was published in two volumes in book form in 1861. It is a sequel to the better-known Tom Brown's School Days.
Tom Brown is a fictional character created by author Thomas Hughes in his work Tom Brown's School Days (1857) which is set at a real English public school—Rugby School for Boys—in the 1830s when Hughes himself had been a pupil there. Tom Brown is based on the author's brother, George Hughes, and George Arthur is based on Arthur Penrhyn Stanley.
Flashman is a 1969 novel by George MacDonald Fraser. It is the first of the Flashman novels.
Flashman at the Charge is a 1973 novel by George MacDonald Fraser. It is the fourth of the Flashman novels. Playboy magazine serialised Flashman at the Charge in 1973 in their April, May and June issues. The serialisation is unabridged, including most of the notes and appendixes, and features a few illustrations, collages from various paintings and pictures to depict a period montage of the Charge and Crimea.
Flashman in the Great Game is a 1975 novel by George MacDonald Fraser. It is the fifth of the Flashman novels.
Flashman's Lady is a 1977 novel by George MacDonald Fraser. It is the sixth of the Flashman novels.
Harry "Scud" East is a fictional character in the book Tom Brown's School Days. He is perhaps the closest friend of Tom Brown. His nickname is Scud because he is so quick on his feet. In the book he is referred to as East.
Tom Brown's Schooldays is a 2005 British television film directed by Dave Moore and starring Alex Pettyfer and Stephen Fry. It is an adaptation of the Thomas Hughes 1857 novel of the same name. It aired on ITV on 1 January 2005 and was released on DVD 9 days later.
Tom Brown's Schooldays is a 1971 television serial adaptation of the 1857 Thomas Hughes novel Tom Brown's Schooldays. Consisting of five 45-minute long episodes, the series was directed by Gareth Davies and used a screenplay by Anthony Steven.
Tom Brown's School Days is a 1940 coming-of-age drama film about a teenage boy's experiences at Rugby School, Warwickshire in the early 19th century under the reforming headmastership of Thomas Arnold. It stars Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Freddie Bartholomew and Jimmy Lydon in the title role. The film was based on the 1857 novel, Tom Brown's School Days by Thomas Hughes.
Tom Brown's Schooldays is a 1951 British drama film, directed by Gordon Parry, produced by Brian Desmond Hurst, and starring John Howard Davies, Robert Newton and James Hayter. It is based on the 1857 novel of the same name by Thomas Hughes.
Flashman or Flash Man may refer to:
Tom Brown's Schooldays is a 1916 British silent drama film directed by Rex Wilson and starring Joyce Templeton, Jack Coleman and Evelyn Boucher. It is an adaptation of the 1857 novel Tom Brown's School Days by Thomas Hughes. It is set at Rugby School in the 1830s where Tom Brown encounters the villainous bully Flashman. It was made at Catford Studios.
The Flashman Papers is a series of novels and short stories written by George MacDonald Fraser, the first of which was published in 1969. The books centre on the exploits of the fictional protagonist Harry Flashman. He is a cowardly British soldier, rake and cad who is placed in a series of real historical incidents between 1839 and 1894. While the incidents and much of the detail in the novels have a factual background, Flashman's actions in the stories are either fictional, or Fraser uses the actions of unidentified individuals and assigns them to Flashman. Flashman is a character in the 1857 novel by Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown's School Days; Hughes' version of the character is a bully at Rugby School who is expelled for drunkenness. The character was then developed by Fraser, and appeared in the 1969 novel Flashman. Fraser went on to write a total of eleven novels and one collection of short stories featuring the character.
George Edward Hughes was an English first-class cricketer and barrister.
For the British military officer, see Augustus Orlebar.
↑ Steege, David K. "Harry Potter, Tom Brown, and the British School Story". The Ivory Tower and Harry Potter: Perspectives on a Literary Phenomenon: 141–156.
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