Meaning & Analysis
When children are young, their charming or silly behavior makes their parents dote on them foolishly. As they grow older and their problems become more serious, they cause their parents extreme worry and distress, driving them to 'madness'.
Insights
The Shifting Nature of Parental Worry
The proverb charts the evolution of parental burdens. Early challenges are immediate and physical (making parents act like 'fools' through love and exhaustion), while later challenges become complex, moral, and psychological, causing deep-seated anxiety ('madness').
Escalating Emotional Stakes
It symbolizes the escalating cost of emotional investment. The initial 'foolish' delight of parents in their small children transforms into a state of 'madness' brought on by the significant life choices and greater troubles of their grown children.
Erosion of Parental Control
The proverb illustrates a parent's diminishing influence. A parent can manage a little 'fool's' antics, but the actions of a 'great' (adult) child are beyond their control, leading to a sense of powerlessness that feels like madness.
Cultural Universality
The proverb reflects a historical and cultural understanding of the escalating nature of parental responsibility. The Italian parallel, 'Great children a vexation of the heart, small children, a pain in the head', underscores the universality of this sentiment, framing parenting as an ever-deepening emotional investment.
Psychological Trajectory of Parenthood
Psychologically, the proverb captures the transition from the physical exhaustion and playful foolishness of caring for young children to the profound existential anxiety of guiding adult children. The shift from 'fools' to 'mad' signifies a loss of control and a deepening of emotional stakes.
Historical and Linguistic Context
The stark language ('fools', 'mad') is characteristic of 17th-century expression, using hyperbole to convey the all-consuming nature of parental love and worry. It portrays the parent's identity as being almost entirely defined by the child's developmental stage.
Rhetorical Devices
Antithesis
The proverb's power lies in the stark contrast between 'little' vs. 'great' and 'fools' vs. 'mad'. This balanced opposition creates a memorable and impactful statement about the stages of life.
Hyperbole
The use of 'fools' and 'mad' is an intentional exaggeration to emphasize the profound and overwhelming emotional impact children have on their parents at different stages of life.
Parallelism
The parallel structure ('when...make...; when...make...') creates a rhythmic, balanced, and easily quotable aphorism, enhancing its durability as a piece of folk wisdom.
Transcription
Quotations
Children when they are little make parents fooles; when they are great they make them made.
Children when they are little, make their Parents Fools, but when they are great, they do do make them mad.
[As in 1640 Herb.]
Great children a vexation of the heart, small children, a pain in the head.
(Children when they are little)
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
Used under CC BY-NC 3.0.