Charlotte Bronte wrote a letter, possibly to her sister, expressing her thoughts and feelings about her job as a governess. I feel this is one of those letters that one would write to keep family informed on current events in their life.
Mrs. Bronte was what we would call a nanny. “The children are constantly with me, and more riotous, perverse, unmanageable cubs never grew.” (p. 560) Here, Charlotte feels that the children are unruly and extremely difficult to control. When she tried to discipline them, the children’s mother was not too receptive of the idea. They were supposed to do whatever they wanted and that was the bottom line. Because of the harsh looks that she has received from Mrs. Sidgwick’s, the children’s mother, she does not dare express her concerns about the children’s behavior. Her job was to take care of the children, not complain about their behavior. Then again, maybe the mother did not take kindly to being told that she had bad children. What mother would?
Another issue that Charlotte has deals with what she believes her boss thinks of her. “I do not think Mrs. Sidgwick likes me at all.” (p. 560) I believe Charlotte feels this way because the boss does not carry on conversations with her about anything. The fact of the matter is, Charlotte is an employee and her job description probably does not include being friendly with the boss. This is probably Mrs. Sidgwick’s sentiment. Yes, it would make for a more pleasant work atmosphere, but Mrs. Sidgwick might feel that Charlotte is beneath her and it would not be appropriate to have that sort of relationship with the hired help. After all, this is a time period when it was common practice for the nanny to be disrespected by the lady of the house. Notice that I said the disrespect came from the lady of the house. This is because Charlotte did not have a negative comment to say about Mr. Sidgwick. According to Charlotte, he was more laid back. She felt more relaxed when she was around him because he did not pressure her to do the things that his wife did. However, this does not mean that he did not speak to Mrs. Sidgwick about the matter. But, be that as it may, Charlotte had more respect for him than she did for his wife. I must admit, that can definitely create a problem.
I remember having a manager that I thought did not care too much for me. It seemed that he would make me work more when others were taking breaks. It turns out that he was upset because my co-workers came to me for help before they would go to him. Of course this did not look good on his behalf, so to correct it, he tried to put pressure on me. He was demoted! Now I doubt if this would be the case with Mrs. Sidgwick.
Reggie,
ReplyDeleteGood observations on Charlotte Brontë's letter to her sister concerning her unhappy experiences as a governess. (Note that she is not "Mrs. Brontë," though, because married women were not eligible to be employed as governesses.) You point out several issues related to her distance from her employer, but another problem is that she can't hang out with and associate with the servants, either; a governess had to be of higher social class than servants, but was not treated as the equal of her employers.
I read this but did not blog about it. I like you observations and I like how you relate to it. I think that for Charlotte her position as governess was not what she imagined it to be. I believe that she had a fantastical image in her head and the reality was vastly different. I also think this letter was a letter of venting, since she had no close relationships with anyone else. For me this letter was that conversation that you have had about your employer at some point, the difference being you could pick up a phone.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Tony, Charlotte didn't know what she was getting herself into. When I think of the Bronte sisters, i think of independent women. So I do not quite understand why, Charlotte would have taken a job where she would be basically following orders.
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