suddenly, when she was only eight. Edward was particularly heartbroken and forbade her name to be spoken in his presence. Although her portraits were not taken off the wall, they were turned around so that he would not have to see her face. From that point onward, Edward had a fear of sick people that he passed on to his son.
When Gilbert was five years old, his little brother came into the world. In an incredibly prophetic remark for a five year old, Gilbert is supposed to have proclaimed: “Now I shall always have an audience!”
It is particularly astute a comment if we consider that young Gilbert had only begun to talk a few months prior. He was not only a clumsy child; he was a silent one. According to family stories, it was not until Gilbert was five years old and attending a children’s party, where one of his four-year-old cousins talked his ear off, that Gilbert finally became so indignant at having to listen for so long that he threw a fit and poured forth surprising eloquence for someone who had up to that point not spoken full sentences.
The brothers were very fond of each other, but they were also very fond of arguing. From the moment that Cecil learned to speak, they argued constantly. It was Cecil who dominated these arguments. Because Edward and Marie Chesterton refused to interfere with their sons’ freedom of speech, these arguments could be excruciatingly long. The longest recorded is said to have continued for over 18 hours.
Marie Chesterton was well-known for her kindness and hospitality, but it was more than her sons’ free speech that she did not wish to encroach on. She did not make any great demands on the boys’ overall appearance, so the boys were known for being untidy and unclean, although their clothes were proper and kept in good repair, if not necessarily clean.
Being middle class, Gilbert could be educated at home from an early age, but when the time came, he was offered one of the best educations offered in Britain at the time. It is unknown when that time was, but we know that when he entered preparatory school, he was two years older than his classmates. This suggests that he was either held back or started school later than his peers, at age 9 in 1883.
“That monster the schoolboy”
Unlike so many middle class boys of his generation, G. K. Chesterton was spared the cruelty and penalism of the boarding schools, where the older boys ruled the younger through rigid and violent structures with little interference from the schoolmasters. Instead, he attended a day school not far from his parents’ home in Kensington.
The first school that young Gilbert attended was called Colet Court. He graduated at age 12, in January 1887, and transferred to the preparatory school across the street: St. Paul’s School. It was a rather prominent school, where academics were held in high esteem. It was a school where winning scholarships was considered more important than other achievements, such as sport.
In speaking of St. Paul’s in his Autobiography, G. K. Chesterton, seemingly unwittingly, reveals his sheltered upbringing. At an age when many boys were experiencing systematic violence, Chesterton's own main preoccupation was his dislike for Greek minuscules.
Although he had always been an avid reader and a bright young boy, Gilbert felt most at home when he was invisible. He thrived on neglect and found obscurity and failure to be protective forces. He was happiest at the back of the row and at the bottom of the class, appearing to sleep through his classes, even though on his way to school, he may have skipped giddily along the street reciting quotes from the past day’s readings. Although Chesterton later referred to himself at this age as part of the larger group of “that monster the schoolboy,” according to one of his school masters, Gilbert was in fact “as easy to control as an old sheep.”
Gilbert was, in his own words, for most part a
When Gilbert was five years old, his little brother came into the world. In an incredibly prophetic remark for a five year old, Gilbert is supposed to have proclaimed: “Now I shall always have an audience!”
It is particularly astute a comment if we consider that young Gilbert had only begun to talk a few months prior. He was not only a clumsy child; he was a silent one. According to family stories, it was not until Gilbert was five years old and attending a children’s party, where one of his four-year-old cousins talked his ear off, that Gilbert finally became so indignant at having to listen for so long that he threw a fit and poured forth surprising eloquence for someone who had up to that point not spoken full sentences.
The brothers were very fond of each other, but they were also very fond of arguing. From the moment that Cecil learned to speak, they argued constantly. It was Cecil who dominated these arguments. Because Edward and Marie Chesterton refused to interfere with their sons’ freedom of speech, these arguments could be excruciatingly long. The longest recorded is said to have continued for over 18 hours.
Marie Chesterton was well-known for her kindness and hospitality, but it was more than her sons’ free speech that she did not wish to encroach on. She did not make any great demands on the boys’ overall appearance, so the boys were known for being untidy and unclean, although their clothes were proper and kept in good repair, if not necessarily clean.
Being middle class, Gilbert could be educated at home from an early age, but when the time came, he was offered one of the best educations offered in Britain at the time. It is unknown when that time was, but we know that when he entered preparatory school, he was two years older than his classmates. This suggests that he was either held back or started school later than his peers, at age 9 in 1883.
“That monster the schoolboy”
Unlike so many middle class boys of his generation, G. K. Chesterton was spared the cruelty and penalism of the boarding schools, where the older boys ruled the younger through rigid and violent structures with little interference from the schoolmasters. Instead, he attended a day school not far from his parents’ home in Kensington.
The first school that young Gilbert attended was called Colet Court. He graduated at age 12, in January 1887, and transferred to the preparatory school across the street: St. Paul’s School. It was a rather prominent school, where academics were held in high esteem. It was a school where winning scholarships was considered more important than other achievements, such as sport.
In speaking of St. Paul’s in his Autobiography, G. K. Chesterton, seemingly unwittingly, reveals his sheltered upbringing. At an age when many boys were experiencing systematic violence, Chesterton's own main preoccupation was his dislike for Greek minuscules.
Although he had always been an avid reader and a bright young boy, Gilbert felt most at home when he was invisible. He thrived on neglect and found obscurity and failure to be protective forces. He was happiest at the back of the row and at the bottom of the class, appearing to sleep through his classes, even though on his way to school, he may have skipped giddily along the street reciting quotes from the past day’s readings. Although Chesterton later referred to himself at this age as part of the larger group of “that monster the schoolboy,” according to one of his school masters, Gilbert was in fact “as easy to control as an old sheep.”
Gilbert was, in his own words, for most part a
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