Frances Hodgson Burnett was a prolific writer, penning over 60 novels and plays throughout her lifetime. Yet her works that have remained most prominently in today’s literary canon belong to the later period of her life, namely from the 1890s onwards, when Burnett started writing books more tailored for children. Themes of childhood and magic came to define much of Burnett’s work in her old age, when she produced some of her most beloved stories, such as The Secret Garden and A Little Princess.
After the death of Burnett’s son by tuberculosis in 1890, the author started to become interested in spiritual thought systems, such as Theosophy and Christian Science, which uphold the force of magic as a natural part of life. A brush with tragedy had seemingly provoked Burnett to deeply consider the meaning of life and the nature of the human soul. Many of the characters of her later books, such as Mary Lennox in The Secret Garden, wrestle with questions of their true identity, coming to recognize that behind their faults and struggles there is a greater, more magical sense of being that has long eluded them.
A common element in many Burnett books is an undercurrent of magic and splendor that colors the worldview of her characters, bringing them out of their malaise. In Queen Silver-Bell, a queen is challenged by her temper until she remembers that she is a fairy. In A Little Princess, the mistreated and abandoned little girl delights herself with her imagination, despite outer circumstances of poverty.
For Mary in The Secret Garden, the neglected property of her eccentric uncle becomes the mystical playground for new friendships, animal communication, and sudden healing of sickness. One of the story’s greatest themes is the power of thought, shown by how Colin is suddenly and miraculously cured when he leaves behind his neurotic and self-defeating fears. It is no coincidence that this is also a common principle of Christian Science, according to Stephen Gottschalk, a historian of new religious movements.
Literary critic Jane Darcy suggests that Burnett’s religious views are also evident in the themes of regeneration and renewal in The Secret Garden. Through nature symbolism, the author drives home the message that “nothing that ever lives will die, but is constantly remade.” This immortality—underscored at one point when Colin Craven declares that he will live “forever and ever”—is portrayed as an obvious principle of life once one removes herself from the drudge and seriousness of the adult world. This interest in innocence and magic is seen by Darcy as a sort of means for Burnett to make sense of her own grief, where the magical child characters of her stories serves as a “symbol for the possibility of her own re-birth.”
