ABSTRACT
A focus on the child-figure has alerted us to the eroticization of childhood and the inherent fascination with the poor child. As we have discovered, adult-child boundaries are unstable and class-dependent, and questions of sexuality spill over into discussions of adult roles and representations. It is apparent that Stretton’s writing is continually on the edge of – always hinting at – sexual concerns, through its social and religious context, its interaction with popular discourses, and through echoes and innuendo within the texts. Societal assumptions regarding sexuality, together with anxieties surrounding its containment – particularly in relation to the young woman – underlie narrative themes and motifs, exposing the crucial relationship between sexuality, gender and class.
