Tom Brown at Oxford

Tom Brown at Oxford

Children's fiction, school stories

Thomas Hughes was an adherent of Muscular Christianity, a philosophical movement of the nineteenth century. which promoted a belief in patriotic duty, discipline, self-sacrifice, masculinity, and the moral and physical beauty of athleticism. Thomas Hughes embraced the ideal of muscular Christianity as a pedagogical tool for schoolboys, to build both physical strength and moral values. Hughes elaborated upon the theme of Muscular Christianity in Tom Brown at Oxford: “man's body is given him to be trained and brought into subjection, and then used for the protection of the weak, the advancement of all righteous causes, and the subduing of the earth which God has given to the children of men” (129). Hughes expands on Muscular Christianity’s previously undefined characteristics to include patriotism and imperialism as a citizen of Britain. Thus defined, Muscular Christianity is an expression of physical prowess and athleticism which stands in for greater discipline of body, mind, will, and morals, as well as genteel masculinity’s protective qualities.

Hughes, Thomas

Personal Collection

Macmillian and Company

1888

See also Tom Brown's School Days, its prequel.

Blue cloth cover of Tom Brown at Oxford. Title page from the 1888 Macmillan and Company edition of Tom Brown at Oxford.

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