Abstract

Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden (1911) occupies a revered position within children’s literature, celebrated for its themes of rejuvenation, the restorative power of nature, and personal transformation. However, critical interrogation reveals complex layers obscured by its idyllic surface. This research employs postcolonial theory, ecocriticism, disability studies, and critical discourse analysis to excavate the novel’s embedded colonialist ideologies, problematic representations of disability and class, and the inherent tensions within its construction of nature. Through a close reading of the text, significant gaps are identified : the elision of Indian voices and contexts, the normalization of imperial attitudes, the pathologization of difference, and the contradictory portrayal of the natural world as both benevolent healer and a space requiring colonial-style mastery. It is argued that the garden functions as a microcosm of imperial control, while the narrative’s resolution relies on problematic assimilations. This analysis contends that a critical reappraisal is essential to understand the novel’s enduring legacy and its often-unexamined participation in the discourses of its era.