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governess

 
Dictionary: gov·er·ness   (gŭv'ər-nĭs) pronunciation
n.
A woman employed to educate and train the children of a private household.

[Middle English governesse, short for governouresse, from Old French governeresse, feminine of governeor, governor, from Latin gubernātor. See gubernatorial.]


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WordNet: governess
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Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: a woman entrusted with the care and supervision of a child (especially in a private home)


Wikipedia: Governess
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The term Governess can also be applied to a female Governor.
In Rebecca Solomon's 1851 painting The Governess, the title figure (seated right, with her charge) exhibits the modest dress and deportment appropriate to her quasi-invisible role in the Victorian household.

A governess is a woman employed to teach and train children in a private household. In contrast to a nanny (formerly called a nurse) or a babysitter, she concentrates on teaching children, not their physical needs. Her charges are of school age, not babies.[1]

The position is rare now, except within large and wealthy households such as those of the Saudi royal family[2] and in remote regions such as outback Australia.[3] It was common in well-off European families before World War I, 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 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 or a school.

Contents

Role

Governesses taught "The three Rs"[4] to young children. They also taught the "accomplishments" expected of middle class women to the young ladies under their care, such as French or another language, the piano or another musical instrument, and often painting (usually the more ladylike watercolours rather than oils) or poetry. 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 household, neither quite a servant 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.[5]

Notable governesses

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".

Governess finds obscure use in sexual terminology, to describe the madam of a brothel or the dominant female party in any number of sexual arrangements, particularly sadomasochism.

See also

References

  1. ^ A Governess's Duties, Outback House (Australian Broadcasting Corporation).
  2. ^ Ellis, Phyllis (2000). Desert Governess: An Inside View on the Saudi Arabian Royal Family. London: Eye Books. ISBN 1903070015. 
  3. ^ Harris, Julia: A career as a Governess? What skills do you need?, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 15 October 2004.
  4. ^ 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. 
  5. ^ Lecaros, Cecilia Wadsö: The Victorian Governess Novel, Lund University, 2000.

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


Translations: Governess
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Dansk (Danish)
n. - guvernante, lærerinde

Nederlands (Dutch)
gouvernante

Français (French)
n. - gouvernante

Deutsch (German)
n. - Gouvernante, Erzieherin

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (ιδιωτική) νηπιαγωγός (κν. γκουβερνάντα, νταντά), (η) κυβερνήτης

Italiano (Italian)
governante, istitutrice

Português (Portuguese)
n. - governanta (f)

Русский (Russian)
гувернантка

Español (Spanish)
n. - institutriz, aya, gobernanta

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - guvernant

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
女家庭教师

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 女家庭教師

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 여자 가정 교사

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 女性家庭教師

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) مربيه اطفال, الحاكمه, زوجه الحاكم‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮מורה, מחנכת, מורה פרטית (בבית)‬


 
 
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Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Governess" Read more
Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved.  Read more