The Story of a Governess
A Victorian Study of Feminine Labor, Social Dependence, and Moral Self-CommandBy Mrs. Oliphant
Length15h 39m
About this audiobook
Mrs. Oliphant's *The Story of a Governess* is a poised Victorian narrative of domestic service, moral education, and social precariousness. Through the experiences of its governess protagonist, the book examines the ambiguous position of the educated woman who is neither fully family nor merely servant, while tracing how intelligence, conscience, and emotional endurance operate within a hierarchical household. Oliphant combines lucid, observant prose with the attractions of plot and sentiment, yet her treatment of domestic life is more socially attentive than conventionally romantic. The work belongs to the nineteenth-century tradition of governess fiction associated with Jane Eyre and later domestic realism, but it offers its own measured perspective on class, gender, employment, and female self-command. Margaret Oliphant Wilson, who published most of her fiction as Mrs. Oliphant, was one of the most prolific and perceptive writers of Victorian Britain. Her extensive experience of professional authorship, widowhood, financial responsibility, and family dependence gave her an unusually intimate understanding of women's restricted economic choices. Those circumstances help explain the book's sympathy for a governess negotiating dignity and vulnerability within structures she cannot easily escape. Oliphant's characteristic blend of narrative accessibility and social intelligence makes the story both engaging and historically revealing. This book will reward readers interested in Victorian women's writing, the history of education, domestic fiction, and the literary representation of precarious labor. It is especially valuable for those who wish to look beyond idealized portraits of family life and consider the quiet negotiations by which women preserved autonomy, principle, and hope.
Audiobook details
GenreGeneral Fiction, Literary Classics
Length15 hrs 39 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateNov 20, 2023
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1The Perpetual Curate (Annotated)
26CHAPTER XXV.
2CHAPTER I.
27CHAPTER XXVI.
3CHAPTER II.
28CHAPTER XXVII.
4CHAPTER III.
29CHAPTER XXVIII.
5CHAPTER IV.
30CHAPTER XXIX.
Show all chaptersShow less
6CHAPTER V.
31CHAPTER XXX.
7CHAPTER VI.
32CHAPTER XXXI.
8CHAPTER VII.
33CHAPTER XXXII.
9CHAPTER VIII.
34CHAPTER XXXIII.
10CHAPTER IX.
35CHAPTER XXXIV.
11CHAPTER X.
36CHAPTER XXXV.
12CHAPTER XI.
37CHAPTER XXXVI.
13CHAPTER XII.
38CHAPTER XXXVII.
14CHAPTER XIII.
39CHAPTER XXXVIII.
15CHAPTER XIV.
40CHAPTER XXXIX.
16CHAPTER XV.
41CHAPTER XL.
17CHAPTER XVI.
42CHAPTER XLI.
18CHAPTER XVII.
43CHAPTER XLII.
19CHAPTER XVIII.
44CHAPTER XLIII.
20CHAPTER XIX.
45CHAPTER XLIV.
21CHAPTER XX.
46CHAPTER XLV.
22CHAPTER XXI.
47CHAPTER XLVI.
23CHAPTER XXII.
48CHAPTER XLVII.
24CHAPTER XXIII.
49CHAPTER XLVIII.
25CHAPTER XXIV.
50CHAPTER XLIX.
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