The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes



The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes is a children's story published by John Newbery in London in 1765. The story popularized the phrase "goody two-shoes" as a descriptor for an excessively virtuous person or do-gooder. Historian V.M. Braganza refers to it as one of the first works of Children's literature, perhaps the earliest children's novel in English. It was influential to subsequent authors, revolutionary in the development of its literary genre, and popular, noted for its female heroine in a realist setting.

Plot
The fable tells of Goody Two-Shoes, the nickname of a poor orphan girl named Margery Meanwell, who goes through life with only one shoe. When a rich gentleman gives her a complete pair, she is so happy that she tells everyone that she has "two shoes". Later, Margery becomes a teacher and marries a rich widower. This serves as proof that her virtue has been rewarded and her wealth earned, a popular theme in children's literature of the era.

Publication


The anonymous story was published in London by the John Newbery company, a publisher of popular children's literature. In his introduction to an 1881 edition of the book, Charles Welsh wrote:

"Goody Two-Shoes was published in April 1765, and few nursery books have had a wider circulation, or have retained their position so long. The number of editions that have been published, both in England and America, is legion, and it has appeared in mutilated versions, under the auspices of numerous publishing houses in London and the provinces, although of late years there have been no new issues."

The anonymous author
The story has been attributed to the Irish author Oliver Goldsmith, though this is disputed. Because Goldsmith frequently wrote for pay and because of his copious fiction in essays (e.g., The Bee and Citizen of the World), the attribution to Goldsmith is plausible. Washington Irving was one supporter of this attribution; he wrote: "Several quaint little tales introduced in Goldsmith's Essays show that he had a turn for this species of mock history; and the advertisement and title-page bear the stamp of his sly and playful humor." The book has also been attributed to Newbery himself and to Giles Jones, a friend of Newbery.

Origin of the phrase "goody two-shoes"
Although The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes is credited with popularizing the term "goody two-shoes", the actual origin of the phrase is unknown. For example, it appears a century earlier in Charles Cotton's Voyage to Ireland in Burlesque (1670): Mistress mayoress complained that the pottage was cold; 'And all long of your fiddle-faddle,' quoth she. 'Why, then, Goody Two-shoes, what if it be? Hold you, if you can, your tittle-tattle,' quoth he. The name is used herein to point out the mayoress's comparative privilege; "Goody" (a shortening of "Goodwife"), being the equivalent of "Mrs." and "Two-shoes", implicitly comparing her to people who have no shoes.