ABSTRACT
Christopher Milne and the author go to university. Erikson’s (1950) and James Marcia’s (1966) stage of identity formation in adolescence is explored in relationship to Christopher Milne’s growing love of nature. In contrast, the author has little sense of who she is after such a long period of being in a boarding institution. Both Christopher and the author remember being very interested in Thomas Hardy’s The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886). It reinforces Christopher’s identification with the working classes while the author identifies with the female character who is sold by her husband. This reflects the author being in Mary Belenky et al.’s (1986) stage of Silence, in which she believes she is “voiceless”. She completes an Arts degree, meets her future husband and goes back to her preparatory boarding school where the reverend mother apologises for the way she was treated there. It leads to a shift in her way of thinking. In contrast, Christopher Milne branches out, leaves university and joins the army. The author argues that his decision shows his resilience because he was at home until he was almost ten under the loving care of his nanny.
