The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood | Social Sensitivity

The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood Social Sensitivity

Pyle wrote predominantly for boys in a late-Victorian era dedicated to the formation of the mens sana in corpore sano, or "the healthy mind in the healthy (male) body." This tradition praised the boy with "pluck." Consequently, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood features only male heroes and extols what Pyle and his contemporaries thought to be male virtues—courage, physical prowess, and adventurous independence. The very few women who make brief appearances in Robin Hood fill stereotypical roles: they are young maidens to flirt with; or they are motherly figures like Queen Eleanor; or they are femmes fatales, deadly women who entrap and harm men, such as the treacherous Prioress of Kirklees who bleeds Robin to death at the end of the book. This stereotypical treatment of women and Pyle's narrow audiencefocus may prove troubling to parents and teachers dedicated to providing young people with a gender-balanced reading list.