Meaning
The book was immediately popular, possibly in part because it was believed to be a political commentary, but it is not clear exactly what readers thought was being satirised. It has been suggested that the character of Mother Hubbard may have its origins in St. Hubert, the dogs' saint. It has also been suggested that the rhyme refers to Cardinal Thomas Wolsey refusing Henry VIII's divorce from Queen Catherine of Aragon, but the connection is based on speculation.
Read more about this topic: Old Mother Hubbard
Famous quotes containing the word meaning:
“[Woman’s] life-long economic parasitism has utterly blurred her conception of the meaning of equality.”
—Emma Goldman (1869–1940)
“He would declare and could himself believe
That the birds there in all the garden round
From having heard the daylong voice of Eve
Had added to their own an oversound,
Her tone of meaning but without the words.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“Show me one thing here on earth which has begun well and not ended badly. The proudest palpitations are engulfed in a sewer, where they cease throbbing, as though having reached their natural term: this downfall constitutes the heart’s drama and the negative meaning of history.”
—E.M. Cioran (b. 1911)