I Want to Be Young Forever: The Representation of Childhood in British LiteratureWe spend most of our childhood wishing and dreaming of growing up. It seems like no matter what you try to do, you're never old enough, tall enough, or wise enough. It's funny that when you finally grow up, you spend the rest of your life wishing you could turn back time and be young again. As a child, you are constantly placed in positions that make you feel inferior and unimportant in society. For example, you are put at the "kids' table" at Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner until your family thinks you are old enough to sit at the "adults' table." If that's not degrading, I don't know what is. Childhood is the most important stage of development. This is where we establish ourselves as individuals and begin to prepare for adulthood. However, through research it has become clear that our ideas about childhood and adolescence have changed over time. They have been adapted and influenced based on changes in our society and current opinions on what childhood should be like at the time. The evolution of the representation of childhood and adolescence, from innocence to independence, can be observed through the works of British literature from the medieval, romantic, Victorian and postmodern eras. The concept of childhood and adolescence first appeared in medieval times with the view of children as innocent, pure and mostly victims of acts of violence. At this time, infant mortality rates were considerably high compared to those in later centuries. The conception was very complicated and involved perfect timing and setting due to the lack of medical care and technology. Many children have often been neglected and abandoned...... middle of paper...... Literature for ages. Many writers have used their childhood or what society thought of childhood as the foundation for their writing. Until the Victorian era, the representation of childhood remained relatively similar. They view all children as innocent victims of a changing society. It was only after the Victorian era that we began to see a more contemporary vision of childhood emerge. To be honest, without childhood, our society might even cease to exist. In order to prepare ourselves for what awaits us as adults, we must develop physically, morally, and emotionally, and all of this happens during childhood. Before you continue wishing to a shooting star that you were already older, take some time to think about all the things you would miss. As Lee Ann Womack always said, "If you are lucky enough to see our dance, I hope you dance..”