Author: Berdiboyeva, Khushnoza Bakhodir kizi

Annotation: This study explores the social, moral, spiritual, and literary functions of childhood in 19th-century English literature. Focusing on the works of Charles Dickens (Oliver Twist), Charlotte Brontë (Jane Eyre), George Eliot (Adam Bede), Elizabeth Gaskell (Cranford), and Thomas Hardy (The Mayor of Casterbridge), the article analyzes how childhood is represented and its role in shaping social norms, moral values, spiritual growth, and literary expression. Using a literary-analytical approach, the research demonstrates that childhood in Victorian literature is a multidimensional concept that reflects societal conditions, ethical development, personal experiences, and narrative strategies. The findings contribute to the understanding of the cultural and linguistic significance of childhood in English literature and provide insights for comparative literary studies.

Keywords: childhood, 19th-century English literature, Dickens, Brontë, Eliot, Gaskell, Hardy, social function, moral function, spiritual function, literary function.

Pages in journal: 147 - 154