Infectious diseases killed Victorian children at alarming rates — their novels highlight the fragility of public health today

Image: Thomas Worth’s 1872 illustration for the Household Edition of The Old Curiosity Shop highlights her grandfather’s grief at losing Little Nell. (Thomas Worth via George P. Landow / Victorian Web) “This image may be used without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose.” Article by Andrea Kaston Tange. The Conversation – December 11, 2024.

Modern medicine has enabled citizens of wealthy, industrialized nations to forget that children once routinely died in shocking numbers. Teaching 19th-century English literature, I regularly encounter gutting depictions of losing a child, and I am reminded that not knowing the emotional cost of widespread child mortality is a luxury. In the first half of the 19th century, between 40% and 50% of children in the U.S. didn’t live past the age of 5. […]

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