Tone
Scholars and critics detect in the narrative voice a certain lack of interest and lack of emotional involvement in The Flopsy Bunnies that they ascribe to various factors. MacDonald points out that the plot is simple and designed to capture the attention of young children, but suspects that Potter was more involved in the locale rather than the characters. Potter had at one time declared the rabbit characters "wearisome", and the brevity with which she treats them in The Flopsy Bunnies suggests that this was her attitude to the book as a whole.
Potter biographer Linda Lear, author of Beatrix Potter: A Life in Nature observes that Potter had great affection for Peter Rabbit, but the sequels never held quite the same appeal for her because neither sprang to life from story and picture letters to children in the manner of Peter Rabbit. She believes the sequels lack the sort of vitality that distinguishes Peter.
Kutzer thinks the two sequels not up to Potter's usual narrative standards because both sprang from a public demand for more "bunny books" rather than from any desire on Potter's part to continue the rabbit stories. Neither of the tales spoke to Potter emotionally in the manner of Peter Rabbit, she points out, and speculates that Potter associated rabbits with the less than happy life she passed in her parents' London home. Kutzer believes that once Potter gained a life of her own and freed herself from domineering parents, she was reluctant to return to material which evoked unpleasant memories.
Read more about this topic: The Tale Of The Flopsy Bunnies
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