A governess is a woman employed to teach and train children in a private household. In contrast to a nanny A nanny or childminder is a person who looks after the child or children of another family. Childminding differs from nannying in that a nanny goes to the house of the child in order to care for it; childminders look after the child in the childminder's home. Modern nannies may live in or out, like other domestic workers, depending on their (formerly called a nurse) or a babysitter Babysitting is the practice of temporarily caring for a child on behalf of the child's parents. Babysitting is commonly performed as an odd job by teenagers for extra money, stereotypically, but not necessarily, by girls, she concentrates on teaching children, not their physical needs. Her charges are of school age, not babies.[1]
The position is rarer now, except within large and wealthy households A great house is a large and stately residence; the term encompasses different styles of dwelling in different countries. The name refers to the makeup of the household rather than to any particular architectural style. It particularly refers to large households of times past in Anglophone countries , such as the English country house, the " such as those of the Saudi royal family The history of the Al Saud has been marked by a desire to unify the Arabian Peninsula and to spread what it promotes as a more purified and simple, view of Islam. The House of Saud is linked with Wahhabism (Saudis deprecate the term, preferring the term Salafism) through the marriage of the son of Muhammad ibn Saud with the daughter of Muhammad[2] and in remote regions such as outback The Outback is the vast, remote, arid area of Australia, although the term colloquially can refer to any lands outside the main urban areas. The term "the outback" is generally used to refer to locations that are comparatively more remote than those areas named "the bush" Australia For at least 40,000 years before European settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who belonged to one or more of the roughly 250 language groups. After sporadic visits by fishermen from the immediate north and discovery by Dutch explorers in 1606, Australia's eastern half was claimed by the British.[3] It was common in well-off European Europe is one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus region (Specification of borders) and the Black Sea to the southeast. Europe is bordered by the Arctic Ocean and families before World War I World War I was a military conflict that lasted from 1914 to 1918 and involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Allies and the Central Powers. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilized in one of the largest wars in history. More than 15 million people were, especially in the countryside where no suitable school existed nearby. Parents' preference to educate their children at home—rather than send them away to boarding school A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," that is, food and lodging. Some boarding schools also have day students who are students that live off-campus with for months at a time—varied across time and countries. Governesses were usually in charge of girls and younger boys; when a boy was old enough, he left his governess for a tutor In British, Australian, New Zealand, Italian, and some Canadian universities, a tutor is often but not always a postgraduate student or a lecturer assigned to conduct a seminar for undergraduate students, often known as a tutorial. The equivalent of this kind of "tutor" in the United States of America and the rest of Canada is known as a or a school.
There has been a recent resurgence amongst families worldwide to employ governesses or full-time tutors In British, Australian, New Zealand, Italian, and some Canadian universities, a tutor is often but not always a postgraduate student or a lecturer assigned to conduct a seminar for undergraduate students, often known as a tutorial. The equivalent of this kind of "tutor" in the United States of America and the rest of Canada is known as a. This has been for a number of reasons including personal security, the benefits of a tailored eduction and the flexibility to travel or live in multiple locations. [4]
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Role
Modern governesses occupy a slightly different role to their traditional counterparts. They are highly educated individuals who fill the role of both teacher In education, a teacher is a person who provides schooling for others. A teacher who facilitates education for an individual student may also be described as a personal tutor. The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out by way of occupation or profession at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person and academic mentor In Greek mythology, Mentor was the son of Alcumus and, in his old age, a friend of Odysseus. When Odysseus left for the Trojan War he placed Mentor in charge of his son, Telemachus, and of his palace. When Athena visited Telemachus she took the disguise of Mentor to hide herself from the suitors of Telemachus' mother Penelope. As Mentor, the for the children. They structure an education for their pupils which usually offers greater breadth and a higher standard than a school A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the supervision of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools. The names for these schools vary by country (discussed in the Regional section below), but generally education can.[5]
Traditionally, governesses taught "The three Rs"[6] to young children. They also taught the "accomplishments" expected of middle class The middle class are any class in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class. In Marxist terms, middle class commonly refers to either the bourgeoisie before or during capitalism[ women to the young ladies under their care, such as French French is a Romance language spoken as a first language by about 136 million people worldwide. Around 190 million people speak French as a second language, and an additional 200 million speak it as an acquired foreign language. French speaking communities are present in 57 countries and territories. Most native speakers of the language live in or another language, the piano The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is widely known as one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in Classical music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music, and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal. Although not portable and often expensive, or another musical instrument, and often painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects may be used. In art the term describes both the act and the result which is called a painting. Paintings may have for their support such surfaces as walls, paper, (usually the more ladylike watercolours Watercolor or watercolour (UK) and also aquarelle, from French, is a painting method. A watercolor is the medium or the resulting artwork, in which the paints are made of pigments suspended in a water soluble vehicle. The traditional and most common support for watercolor paintings is paper; other supports include papyrus, bark papers, plastics, rather than oils Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium of drying oil — especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil. Often an oil such as linseed was boiled with a resin such as pine resin or even frankincense; these were called 'varnishes' and were prized for their body and gloss. Other oils occasionally used) or poetry Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning. Poetry may be written independently, as discrete poems, or may occur in conjunction with other arts, as in poetic drama, hymns, lyrics, or prose poetry. It is published in dedicated magazines (. It was also possible for other teachers (usually male) with specialist knowledge and skills to be brought in, for example, a drawing master.
A governess was in an awkward position in the Victorian The Victorian era of the United Kingdom was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from June 1837 until her death on the 22nd of January 1901. The reign was a long period of prosperity for the British people, as profits gained from the overseas British Empire, as well as from industrial improvements at home, allowed an educated middle class to household, neither quite a servant A domestic worker is someone who works within the employer's household. Domestic workers perform a variety of household services for an individual or a family, from providing care for children and elderly dependents to cleaning and household maintenance, known as housekeeping. Responsibilities may also include cooking, doing laundry and ironing, nor a member of the family. As a sign of this social limbo, she often ate in isolation. She had a middle class background and education, but she was paid and not really part of the family. Being a governess was one of the few legitimate ways an unmarried middle class woman could support herself in that society. Her position was often depicted as one to be pitied, and the only likely way out of it was to marry. Once her charges grew up, she had to seek a new position, or, exceptionally, might be retained by the grown-up daughter as a paid companion.
In fiction
Several well-known works of fiction, particularly in the nineteenth century, have focused on governesses. [7]
- Becky Sharp, the main character in William Makepeace Thackeray William Makepeace Thackeray was an English novelist of the 19th century. He was famous for his satirical works, particularly Vanity Fair, a panoramic portrait of English society's novel Vanity Fair Vanity Fair: A Novel without a Hero is a novel by William Makepeace Thackeray, first published in 1847-48, satirizing society in early 19th-century Britain. The book's title comes from John Bunyan's allegorical story The Pilgrim's Progress, first published in 1678 and still widely read at the time of Thackeray's novel. Vanity fair refers to a stop, is employed as a governess.
- Henry James Henry James, OM – February 28, 1916) was an American-born writer, regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism. He was the son of Henry James, Sr., a clergyman, and the brother of philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James's most famous governess is the over-sensitive and perhaps hysterical protagonist in The Turn of the Screw.
- Stiva, the brother of the eponymous heroine in Anna Karenina Anna Karenina (sometimes Anglicised as Anna Karenin) is a novel by the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy, published in serial installments from 1873 to 1877 in the periodical The Russian Messenger. Tolstoy clashed with its editor Mikhail Katkov over issues that arose in the final installment; therefore, the novel's first complete appearance was in book, had an affair with his children's governess.
- Vera Claythorne in Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None. She was Cyril Hamilton's governess and drowned Cyril so she could marry Hugo Hamilton once he inherited Cyril's fortune. Her Employer was Mrs. Hamilton, Cyril's mother
- Jane Austen Jane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction set among the gentry have earned her a place as one of the most widely read and most beloved writers in English literature. Amongst scholars and critics, Austen's realism and biting social commentary have cemented her historical importance as a writer's novel Emma Emma, by Jane Austen, is a novel about the perils of misconstrued romance. The novel was first published in December 1815. As in her other novels, Austen explores the concerns and difficulties of genteel women living in Georgian-Regency England; she also creates a lively 'comedy of manners' among her characters opens with the eponymous heroine losing Miss Taylor, the governess who had become a family companion, to marriage with Mr. Weston. Later, Jane Fairfax engages to become a governess to escape a life of genteel poverty and dependence.
- Maria, the main character in The Sound of Music The Sound of Music is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the memoir of Maria von Trapp, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers. Many songs from the musical have become standards, including the title song "The Sound of Music", ", leaves convent A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion. In modern English usage, "convent" almost invariably refers to a community of women, while "monastery," "priory" or life to become a governess, and later marries her employer Georg von Trapp
- Terry Pratchett Sir Terence David John Pratchett, OBE , more commonly known as Terry Pratchett, is an English novelist, known for his frequently comical work in the fantasy genre. He is best-known for his popular and long-running Discworld series of comic fantasy novels. Pratchett's first novel, The Carpet People, was published in 1971, and since his first's Discworld Discworld is a comedic fantasy book series by English author Terry Pratchett, set on the Discworld, a flat world balanced on the backs of four elephants which, in turn, stand on the back of a giant turtle, Great A'Tuin. The books frequently parody, or at least take inspiration from, J. R. R. Tolkien, Robert E. Howard, H. P. Lovecraft and William novel Hogfather features a governess named Susan Sto Helit.
- Soap opera Dark Shadows Dark Shadows is a Gothic soap opera that originally aired weekdays on the ABC television network, from June 27, 1966 to April 2, 1971. The show was created by Dan Curtis, who tells of a dream he had in which a girl takes a long train ride to visit a large mansion. The story "bible," which was written by Art Wallace, does not mention any featured the character Victoria Winters as the governess to David Collins.
- Libba Bray's Ann in The Sweet Far Thing briefly to her cousins
- Jane Eyre Jane Eyre is the heroine of Charlotte Brontë's 1847 novel of the same name, the eponymous protagonist in Charlotte Brontë Charlotte Brontë ) (21 April 1816 – 31 March 1855) was an English novelist, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters whose novels are English literature standards. Under the pen name Currer Bell, she wrote Jane Eyre's novel Jane Eyre Jane Eyre is a famous and influential novel by English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published in London, England in 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. with the title Jane Eyre. An Autobiography under the pen name "Currer Bell". The American edition came out the following year published by Harper & Brothers of New York, serves as a governess to the ward of her future husband, Edward Fairfax Rochester.
- Dante serves as governess to Stephen Dedalus Stephen Dedalus is James Joyce's literary alter ego, as well as the protagonist and antihero of his first, semi-autobiographical novel of artistic existence A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and an important character in Joyce's monumental Ulysses. A number of critics, such as Harold Bloom, have named a younger Stephen as the narrator of the and his siblings in James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish writer and poet, widely considered to be one of the most influential writers of the 20th century. Along with Marcel Proust, Virginia Woolf, and others, Joyce was a key figure in the development of the modernist novel. He is best known for his landmark novel Ulysses (1922). Other major works are the short-'s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is a semi-autobiographical novel by James Joyce, first serialised in The Egoist from 1914 to 1915 and published in book form in 1916. It depicts the formative years in the life of Stephen Dedalus, a fictional alter ego of Joyce and a pointed allusion to the consummate craftsman of Greek mythology, Daedalus
- Hester, a character in Diane Setterfield's novel The Thirteenth Tale, is a governess at the Angelfield estate.
Notable governesses
- Katherine Swynford, who was governess to the children of John of Gaunt Sir John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, 5th Earl of Leicester, 2nd Earl of Derby, Duke of Aquitaine, KG was a member of the House of Plantagenet, the third surviving son of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault. He was called "John of Gaunt" because he was born in Ghent (in modern Belgium), Gaunt in English, and later became his mistress, the mother of his Beaufort children, and his duchess. She was a great-great grandmother of Henry VII of England Henry VII was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the House of Tudor through his mother Lady Margaret Beaufort Lady Margaret Beaufort , Countess of Richmond and Derby, was the mother of King Henry VII and grandmother of King Henry VIII of England. She was a key figure in the Wars of the Roses, an influential matriarch of the House of Tudor and foundress of two Cambridge colleges. In 1509, she briefly served as regent of England for her grandson.
- Katherine Ashley, governess to Queen Elizabeth I of England.
- Madame de Maintenon, who became the last mistress of Louis XIV of France Louis XIV , known as the Sun King (French: le Roi Soleil), was King of France and of Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days, and is the longest documented reign of any European monarch, gained entry to his inner circle as governess to his illegitimate At common law, legitimacy is the status of a child who is born to parents who are legally married to one another, or who is born shortly after the parents' marriage ends through divorce. The opposite of legitimacy is the status of being illegitimate – born to a woman and a man who are not married to one another offspring, the children of Madame de Montespan.
- Louise Lehzen, Queen Victoria Victoria was the Queen regnant of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837, and the first Empress of India of the British Raj from 1 May 1876, until her death. Her reign as the Queen lasted 63 years and 7 months, longer than that of any other British monarch before or since, and her reign is the longest of any female's governess.
- Anne Sullivan Anne Mansfield Sullivan Macy, born Johanna Sullivan , was a teacher best known as the instructor and companion of Helen Keller. She is also known as Annie Sullivan, the so-called Miracle Worker The Miracle Worker is a cycle of 20th century dramatic works derived from Helen Keller's autobiography The Story of My Life. Each of the various dramas describe the relationship between Keller — a deafblind and initially almost feral child — and Anne Sullivan, the teacher who introduced her to education, activism, and international celebrity, who educated the remarkable deaf and blind Deafblindness is the condition of little or no useful sight and little or no useful hearing. Deafblind people have an experience quite distinct from people who are only deaf or only blind girl Helen Keller Helen Adams Keller was an American author, political activist, and lecturer. She was the first deafblind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. The story of how Keller's teacher, Anne Sullivan, broke through the isolation imposed by a near complete lack of language, allowing the girl to blossom as she learned to communicate, has become known
- Anna Leonowens, governess in what is now Thailand, whose memoir Anna and the King of Siam reached the stage as The King and I
- Marion Crawford ("Crawfie"), governess of Queen Elizabeth II and HRH The Princess Margaret.
- Marie Curie, governess of a lawyer, and her fathers relatives, later became one of the most influential women in scientific history.
- Reginald Fleming Johnston, Puyi's Scottish tutor from 1919 to 1924, published "Twilight in the Forbidden City" in 1934.
Other uses
The term "governess" also refers to a female politician who serves as governor, although it is now considered archaic, and has been replaced by "governor".
See also
References
- ^ A Governess's Duties, Outback House (Australian Broadcasting Corporation).
- ^ Ellis, Phyllis (2000). Desert Governess: An Inside View on the Saudi Arabian Royal Family. London: Eye Books. ISBN 1903070015.
- ^ Harris, Julia: A career as a Governess? What skills do you need?, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 15 October 2004.
- ^ [1], The Telegraph, 15 March 2009.
- ^ [2] [British Tutors Worldwide]
- ^ McDonald, James Joseph, and J. A. C. Chandler (1907). Life in Old Virginia; A Description of Virginia More Particularly the Tidewater Section, Narrating Many Incidents Relating to the Manners and Customs of Old Virginia so Fast Disappearing As a Result of the War between the States, Together with Many Humorous Stories. Norfold, Va: Old Virginia Pub. Co.. p. 241.
- ^ Lecaros, Cecilia Wadsö. The Victorian Governess Novel
Further reading
- Broughton, Trev and Ruth Symes: The Governess: An Anthology. Stroud: Sutton, 1997. ISBN 0-7509-1503-X
- Hughes, Kathryn: The Victorian Governess, London: Hambledon, 1993. ISBN 1-8528-5002-7
- Peterson, M. Jeanne: "The Victorian Governess: Status Incongruence in Family and Society, in Suffer and Be Still: Women In the Victorian Age, ed. Martha Vicinus. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1972.
External links
- [3] British Tutors - Tuition agency providing governesses worldwide
- The Victorian Governess
- The Victorian Governess, a bibliography, at Victorian Web
- [4] Richard Redgrave's 'The Governess' discussed at the V&A Museum.
Agatha Christie's classic mystery "And Then There Were None"
Categories: Domestic work | Education and training occupations
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