El perfil de la institutriz y la educación femenina victoriana en Agnes Grey de Anne Brontë

Abstract

In Victorian novels, the character of the governess is very interesting because of the uniqueness of her own upbringing and the particularities surrounding the practice of her profession. In Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë, the author draws an occupational, social and psychological profile of the protagonist that is determined by social exclusion and alienation. The governess is a woman who distances herself from the feminine archetypes of society. We are talking referring to an educated and well-read woman who is criticized for her hobbies, a figure that borders on the maternal, but whose affection and authority are disdained because she is not a mother, a young single woman whose sexual drive and possible attractiveness must be repressed, an example of essential Christian virtues to guide their pupils that nevertheless, disregard her advice. The story of Agnes Grey allows us to draw a general picture of the personality and performance of her professional colleagues and offers us an unflattering image of a trade that, in principle, could be enormously rewarding.