“The name of governess […] was a mere mockery”

Abstract

In my thesis I examine the historical and social position of the Victorian English governess, in general. Her position is demonstrated through different types of texts, ranging from historical documents like letters through academic texts to fiction. Although I use these types of sources mostly separately from each other, at certain points they tend to overlap and this thesis tries to discover these areas in the world of governesses. The thesis's main focus is on the variant difficulties that a Vcitorian governess had to overcome, especially the problems caused by the employers and the pupils.