The school stories

[pbsausie]

I saw these posted on another board and wanted peoples opinions:

"See, the problem is, Blyton is the way you get into school stories...the most important thing is to get past Blyton and into the "Big Four" - EBD, Elsie J Oxenham, Dorita Faerlie Bruce and Angela Brazil"

"have you ever noticed that all of the different Blyton series featured the same characters, only under different names? Strange but true - there was the practical joker, the silly, empty-headed one, the wise Scot - and probably more, but I can't think of any just at this moment."

"I first noticed the 'same characters, different names' thing when Gwen is described as being "awfully silly over that dancing mistress we had last term" (think it's in Mallory Towers, book 2, not sure?) which I read straight after the St Clare's books where Alison loses her heart to someone at least once a term. Tad of a coincidence..."

[Muminah]

Hello pbsausie! I really think that Blyton books is a way one can get into School stories, as I got a better impression on Boarding School after reading her books. Yep, I think Blyton has used the same style when bringing out different characters. There is an empty headed one in both of her famous School stories. Gwen in Malory Towers and Alison in St. Clare's. And several other similar Characters too.

[MJE]

I saw these posted on another board and wanted peoples opinions:

"See, the problem is, Blyton is the way you get into school stories...the most important thing is to get past Blyton and into the "Big Four" - EBD, Elsie J Oxenham, Dorita Faerlie Bruce and Angela Brazil"

     I recall maybe 9 or 10 years ago discussing this on another mailing list (I wonder if it was the same one) whose main focus was girls' school stories, and I was considering whether to try getting into one or more of these series, having enjoyed Blyton's. I was quite interested; but I learned how difficult and expensive it could be to collect these books, especially if you wanted original and uncut editions (the only ones that would be acceptable to me): some members of the group were very expert and had been collecting the books for years, and still didn't have a complete series - so coming in as a newcomer seemed very daunting, and I do tend to be an obsessive completist once I get interested in a series. I was interested, but maybe not quite interested enough to go to this effort and expense, and gradually I let the idea slide.

"have you ever noticed that all of the different Blyton series featured the same characters, only under different names? Strange but true - there was the practical joker, the silly, empty-headed one, the wise Scot - and probably more, but I can't think of any just at this moment."

Yep, I think Blyton has used the same style when bringing out different characters. There is an empty headed one in both of her famous School stories. Gwen in Malory Towers and Alison in St. Clare's. And several other similar Characters too. :)

     Yes, I noticed that many characters paired up like this between the two long series, and sometimes with the Naughtiest Girl books. There was the absent-minded musical genius, and the comical artist, the self-important poet or author, the boof-headed sporting type, the quiet reliable type you could depend on, the rather egotistical movie-obsessed visiting American - and so on.
     But sometimes otherwise corresponding characters were different in one respect or other: for instance, an important difference between Alison and Gwen was that Alison was just rather silly and spoilt, but reasonably good-natured, whereas Gwen could be genuinely malicious, and at times seemed to have quite a dark soul. You left the end of her story with the sinking feeling that she's in for a really hard time in the years and even decades ahead, and not too much confidence that she would come good in the end. I must admit I found her saga quite riveting, in a slightly voyeuristic way, if terribly tragic.
     In some ways, I thought Angela Favorleigh was the counterpart of Gwen rather than Alison, but in other ways not. So Gwen was in a sense a combination of Angela and Alison. But Angela, although as spoilt and petulant as Gwen, didn't quite seem to have as many dark undercurrent running through her.
     The O'Sullivan twins (St. Clare's) didn't seem to me to have a real counterpart in the Malory Towers books: if you want to name stereotypes, they were the rebellious girl who didn't want to go to boarding school and decided to be so badly behaved she got expelled; and I don't recall anyone like that in Malory Towers. Certainly not Darrell, and not anyone else I can recall; whereas the Naughtiest Girl very obviously centred around another character of this type.

Regards, Michael.

[dsr]

The "same characters" thing is even more true about Elinor Brent-Dyer and Elsie J. Oxenham. Enid Blyton had about a dozen or so "stock characters" populating each series; EBD had about three, and EJH as far as I remember only had 1.

EBD had the "nice-naughty Middle who grew up into a prefect", the "basically nice but badly brought up Middle who was taught the error of her ways and never made prefect", and the "bad apple who nearly died and was rescued by one of category 1 (usually Jo), reformed, and left the school". OK, that's a bit harsh, and there were exceptions like Princess Elisaveta who stood out, but she was IMO more formulaic than Enid.

As for EJH, she had a stock character of "the girl who is obsessed with country dancing and will later get married and have scores of kids", and no-one else. From memory, anyway. It is a long time since I read any of her books.

For that matter, I think most of Angela Brazil's heroines could be swapped between books with no noticeable effect. As could certain more senior authors such as Dick Francis and his string of identikit heroes. That's not necessarily a criticism. My own favourite school story author was Nancy Breary, and she typically had a well-meaning but not entirely effective junior's friendship with a competent, popular senior or junior as the gist of her plot. It worked, because of the way she told the tale. The same applies to EB and the rest.

But if you want proper characterisation in a school story, Antonia Forest is the one! (Have I mentioned her before? )

[Kitty]

I think its fair enough - everyone is entitled to an opinion, and there is some truth there. Strange to cite Gwen and Alison, though, as I don't think they have much in common! Even Marlow girls get schoolgirl crushes, and I don't think they've much in common with Gwen or Alison either Nearly all Blyton's schoolgirl 'villains' are distinct.

I'd argue its important to get past the 'Big Four' (though I really like EJO and AB in particular) and out into the wild and strange backwaters of school fiction, where surprises and shocks await. Some of my favourite school stories are by nonentities.

[MJE]

Strange to cite Gwen and Alison, though, as I don't think they have much in common!

     In referring to them, and to any other pairs of characters that correspond in some degree between two series, I wasn't suggesting their character was much the same, but rather referring to the kind of role they played in their respective series, the type (in a very broad, stereotyped sense) of character they were. And I assume the previous poster I followed on from, pbsausie, was meaning it in a similar way, too.
     I would have to read both series right through again to comment on it in more detail.

Nearly all Blyton's schoolgirl 'villains' are distinct.

     I quite agree. I'm not even sure I'd regard Alison as a villain (if such a category exists in the school series in a black-and-white sense); but, at least some years ago when I read the books, I did see certain parallels between these two characters, and between other pairs of characters.

I'd argue its important to get past the 'Big Four' (though I really like EJO and AB in particular) and out into the wild and strange backwaters of school fiction, where surprises and shocks await. Some of my favourite school stories are by nonentities. :)

     I have not read many books of this sort; but the few I have read do seem to be quite absorbing. One I recall is an Australian book by Dora Joan Potter, called "Those Summer Holidays". I believe it is part of a series, but I have only that one. And it is only partly a school story, because the middle part of the book is, as the title suggests, set during a holiday period. But the children's aunt is also a teacher at the school some of them attend, so that provides continuity between school and home.

Regards, Michael.

[Kitty]

 In referring to them, and to any other pairs of characters that correspond in some degree between two series, I wasn't suggesting their character was much the same, but rather referring to the kind of role they played in their respective series, the type (in a very broad, stereotyped sense) of character they were. And I assume the previous poster I followed on from, pbsausie, was meaning it in a similar way, too.

Hi there, I was actually only addressing the quote provided by the the OP, not the following comments on the thread, interesting as they were, so I wasn't taking issue with anything you said

I don't think Alison is a villain either I don't think any of them are - even Claudine I just used the term to distinguish them from the jolly good stiff upper lip school-girls (many of whom, in my opinion, go further and do worse than anything the 'villains' - as it were - come up with)

My guilty pleasure school story author is Ethel Talbot - emotional, over-dramatic and divine!

[MARKTAYLORUK]

Alison I liked For the rest- there are only a certain number of character types in real life surely?

[Irene Malory Towers]

Replying to the Oct 2009 post !! so no idea whether the sender is still there or not, although the school stories share some common characters, Malory Towers (I think) is so much better than the other school series it deserves a special mention. I posted the reasons in another thread which I will attempt to insert here.

https://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/for ... e%20mature.

[Irene Malory Towers]

More comments on that, I see that Malory Towers was written just after St Clare's so I wonder whether EB was cutting her teeth on the St Clare's series and then realised that she could do better with a second series. There are the various stock characters in both but she builds on them in Malory Towers and also introduces new themes, like the pantomime in year 5 and stronger depiction of the teachers in Malory Towers.