Anna Sewell wrote Black Beauty as her only novel. Set in Victorian England, it tells the story of a black stallion named Beauty and his experiences with different owners who sometimes mistreat him. Through Beauty's eyes, the novel highlights the issue of animal cruelty and advocates for the humane treatment of horses.

1. by
ANNA SEWELL

2. WRITER’S BIOGRAPHY
Born into a religious Quaker family.
Mostly educated at home.
First attended school only at 12.
Slipped and severely injured both her ankles.
Sadly, never truly recovered and became lame.
Moved around in crutches and horse-drawn carriages.
Contributed to her love for horses and the humane
treatment of horses.

3. Black Beauty was Anna Sewell’s only novel.
Written mostly when she was sick.
Sold to the publishers for only 40 pounds.
Broke publishing records and became the 6th
bestseller of that time.
Unfortunately, Anna died 5 months after that
of hepatitis.
Black Beauty is now a children’s classic
though it was originally written for those who
worked with horses.

4. Chapter 13 of Black Beauty sums up Anna’s
hopes beautifully:
"There is no religion without
love, and people may talk as
much as they like about their
religion, but if it does not teach
them to be good and kind to
other animals as well as humans,
it is all a sham."

5. BACKGROUND
Set during the Victorian era (1837-1901).
The reformation of the social classes in
England.
The different social classes are portrayed in
the novel.
The improved economic status of the middle
class enabled them to afford horses.
However, some do not learn how to take care
of horses, thereby leading to the abuse of
horses.

6. Not only did horses provide a means
of transportation but very often they
were used as labour for a variety of
purposes.
As brute labour, they were taken for
granted, beaten and abused.
Anna Sewell attacked all these
abusive practises in Black Beauty.

7. SYNOPSIS
Black Beauty is a beautiful recount of the
story of a handsome stallion living in Victorian
England.
Had a happy childhood in the countryside
before being sold to various owners and goes
through various hardship and mistreatment.
Survived a horrible stable fire and also a
serious illness.

8. Became a horse for rent and a taxi puller in
working class London.
Finally sold to a kind farmer.
Retires in peace in the countryside.
The novel highlights the issue of cruelty to
animals in Victorian England and remains a
relevant issue till today.
The story is told poignantly and remains a
heartwarming story till today.

9. SETTING
Basically, only two kinds of
setting:
*Town
*Countryside
One which holds good memories
One which holds bad memories

10. CHARACTERS

11. BEAUTY & GINGER

12. THEMES
Mistreatment of animals
The horses in the story represent different
forms of mistreatment; deliberate cruelty,
cruelty in the name of fashion, and
cruelty committed in ignorance. Evidence
of abuse that causes pain and suffering
for horses is found in the novel.

13. Sewell shows us that mean-tempered horses are
not born but are caused by cruel treatment.
Example: Ginger is bad-tempered largely
because of the mistreatment she suffers when
young, while Black Beauty is good-tempered
largely because he enjoys good treatment when
young. And even Ginger. with all her problems,
eventually quiets down during her time at
Birtwick Hall, because of the calming effect of
the humane treatment that she receives.

14. Upright Behaviour
Black Beauty is not only about the
proper treatment of horse, but also about
the proper behaviour of humans in
general. The lessons given by Duchess to
Beauty, by the coachman John and the
cab driver Jerry among others, are
purposely placed in the novel for the
edification of the reader.

15. These lessons include:
(i)Duchess teaching that one should always do
one’s best and work hard;
(ii)John explaining the value of following an
example of kindness by doing the same for
others.
(iii) Jerry demonstrating integrity, helping
others in need, and establishing the family as a
priority. Others, such as Squire Gordon, lecture
on Sewell’s main theme: the need for kindness
to animals.

16. VALUES
Love animals and treat them well –
Animals are God’s creatures as well, therefore,
humans need to love and treat them humanely.
 Always give your best – Black Beauty
always does her best to serve her masters,
regardless of whether they are good or bad
masters.
Be hardworking and go the extra mile
– When Mrs. Gordon falls sick and requires a
doctor, Black Beauty rides in the rain despite
her tiredness in order to bring the doctor to
Mrs. Gordon.

17. Be gentle and good – Duchess advises Black
Beauty to be gentle and good always.
Be a good friend to others – Black Beauty is a
good friend to Ginger.
Speak up when we see cruelty towards
animals – The kind gentleman reprimands the cab
driver who beat his horse.
Do not abuse animals in the name of fashion
and beauty – The lady of Earlshall Park insists on
checkreins for Black Beauty though he is in pain so
that he can hold up his head high and look good.

18. ACTIVITY 1 – FIND & IDENTIFY ME
AIMS
Students are able to identify the different characters in the novel.
MATERIALS
Paper, Blu tack
STEPS
1. Write down clues about a particular character on strips of paper and
number them.
Eg: (a) She was proud of her son’s breeding and advised him to behave well
at all times.
(Refer to appendix for a list of clues)
2. Stick the clues at various places in the classroom.
3. Divide students into small groups and instruct them to move about freely
in the classroom to look for clues which are hidden.
4. The first group to locate all hidden clues and write down the correct
answers is the winner.

19. LET’S DISCUSS/EXPLORE
1. Ask students if they have read other stories where
the main character is a horse. Compare and contrast the
character of Black Beauty to the other horse character.
2. Ask students about their top five favourite characters
in the story? Mention the accomplishment of each
character.
3. Write a journal entry from Beauty’s point of view
that reflects his feelings about himself. Include ways in
which he changes over the course of time.

20. APPENDIX
1. She was proud of her son’s breeding and advised him to behave well at all times.
2. Black Beauty’s first owner.
3. He bought Beauty from Farmer Grey.
4. She likes to bite and she snaps.
5. The coachman of Birtwick Park.
6. She gave Black Beauty his name.
7. She threw Mr. Blomefield’s boys off her back when they rode her roughly.
8. He saved Beauty’s life in a fire.
9. He took over James’ place as a stable boy at Birtwick Park.
10. He provided treatment which saved Mrs. Gordon’s life.
11. Merrylegs was finally given to him.
12. The coachman at Earshall Park.
13. She insisted that Beauty and Ginger wore checkreins.
14. Beauty’s new carriage partner at Earshall Park after Ginger left.
15. He died when he fell off from Beauty when he rode her.
16. The cab driver who was Beauty’s master.
17. His master was killed in battle.
18. He scolded a cab driver for treating his horse cruelly.
19. He bought Beauty from Jerry.
20. He tried to persuade Farmer Thoroughgood to buy Beauty.
 Answers:
 1. Duchess 2.Farmer Grey 3.Squire Gordon 4.Ginger 5.John 6.Mrs. Gordon 7.Merrylegs 8. James
 9. Joe Green 10.Dr. White 11.Mr. Blomefield 12.Mr. York 13.The lady of Earshall Park 14.Max
 15. Reuben Smith 16.Jerry 17.Captain 18.A kind gentleman 19.Farmer Thoroughgood 20.Willie


21. ACTIVITY 2- GUESS WHERE AM I?
Aims
Students are able to guess correctly the various settings in the novel.
Materials
An empty tissue box, phrase strips
Steps
1. Teacher folds the phrase strips and puts them into the empty tissue box.
2. Divide the class into groups of 5 – 6 students.
3. Ask a representative from each group to pick a phrase strip from the tissue box.
4. The representative reads out the phrase and whichever group shouts out the
correct answer gets two points.
5. Every group takes turn to send its representative to pick and read out the phrase.
6. The group with the most points wins the game.

22. LET’S DISCUSS/EXPLORE
 Ask students to think about a place
that brings that good memories. Share
with the class about their favourite
places and why these places bring
good memories.

23. MORE ACTIVITIES
SKELETON PLOT
AIMS:
Students are able to sequence key events in a story
plot.
Stick the sentence strips at various places in the
classroom without following the sequence
(Handout 1)
Divide the class into groups of 4 – 6 students.

24. Each group will have two writers and several
runners.
Runners will try to locate the sentence strips at
various places in the class room. They are not
allowed to bring any paper or pen when reading
from the strip.
Runners run back and forth between the
location of the sentence strips and the writers.
Writers write down whatever the runners
dictate to them.
Students arrange the events according to
sequence.