The Governess; or, The Little Female Academy is a novel published in 1749 by Sarah Fielding. It is the first full-length novel written for children, and is a significant work of 18th-century children's literature.H. Carpenter and M. Prichard, 1984. The Oxford Companion to Children's Literature, Oxford University Press.
Overview
The Governess, or The Little Female Academy is a book about a boarding school run by Mrs Teachum. The story takes place over ten days, not including some initial background information and an epilogue. On each day except for the first, all or part of a text is read aloud to students by Miss Jenny Peace. Afterwards one or more of the pupils is physically described, followed by an account of their life story. These are written to appear as if spoken by each girl and recorded by Miss Jenny. Each session of reading is capped by an appearance from Mrs Teachum, who explains the lesson to be learnt from each experience. Emphasis is given to the importance of reading and to reflecting on the reading.
The plot of The Governess seems largely based upon the Lockean educational ideal of avoiding learning as work or a job, and instead presenting it as something enjoyable. Thus Fielding employs fairy tales as well as everyday occurrences (receiving a letter, meeting strangers, touring fancy houses) to educate her pupils in a living life full of happiness.
Mary Martha Sherwood published a revised edition in 1820, replacing the story of "Barbarico and Benefico" with "The History of the Princess Rosalinda" and omitting "The Princess Hebe."
Summary Preface In her preface, the author says:Fielding, Sarah. The Governess; or, The Little Female Academy. Ed. Candace Ward. Peterborough: Broadview Editions, 2005.
"The Mag-pye alone, of all the Birds, had the Art of building a Nest, the Form of which was with a covering over Head, and only a small Hole to creep out at.—The rest of the Birds, being without Houses, desired the Pye to teach them how to build one.—A Day is appointed, and they all meet.—The Pye then says, "You must lay two Sticks across, thus."—"Aye, says the Crow, I thought that was the way to begin.—Then lay a Feather, or a Bit of Moss.—Certainly, says the Jack-Daw, I knew that must follow.—Then place more Sticks, Straws, Feathers and Moss, in such a manner as this.—Aye, without doubt, cries the Starling, that must necessarily follow; any one could tell how to do that." ...
The preface closes with the explanation that the following 'sheets' are intended to show young readers that "Pride, Stubbornness, Malice, Envy, and, in short, all manner of Wickedness, is the greatest Folley we can be possessed of", and "Certainly, Love and Affection for each other make the Happiest of all Societies."
The Beginning The opening of the novel illustrates how Mrs Teachum's school came into being. She was married to a man that enjoyed 'improving' his wife by educating her, and Mrs Teachum had a disposition towards pleasing her husband, and received his instructions with enthusiasm. When her husband died, he was happy to leave his children in the care of his well educated wife. It was not to be. Within 12 months of the loss of her husband, Mrs Teachum would also suffer the loss of both of her children to fever. During this time, the banker in possession of her money would go bankrupt, leaving Mrs Teachum without her expected support, and in need of income. "Therefore, by the advice of all her Friends, she undertook what she was so well qualified for; namely, the education of children."
In the first scene at her school, Mrs Teachum intended as a gift to her 9 pupils a basket of apples. She is called away before she is able to distribute the apples, and leaves them in the care of Miss Jenny Peace, her eldest student. Jenny is told to make sure that the present is divided evenly, and it should have worked out perfectly, except that one apple appears to be substantially larger than the others. The students begin to clamour to be the one given the larger prize. The noise made by the students was too much for Jenny to overcome. Her decision was that none should have it, and so threw it over the hedge. Instead of solving the problem this leads to a rather large scrum among the girls, involving kicking, biting and pulling of hair over who should have had the apple. As Miss Jenny is attempting to break them up, Mrs Teachum returns to a scene of complete chaos. The children attempt to blame each other for causing the fight, none willing to take the responsibility. The narrative does not explain the method of Mrs Teachum's punishment, but describes it as "the most severe Punishment she had ever inflicted on these wicked Girls, who had been thus fighting, and pulling one another to Pieces, for a sorry Apple."
The punishment does not serve to reform the children, however it does give them time, and the mindset, to be reasoned with. A dialogue is recorded between Miss Jenny and another student, Miss Sukey, in which Miss Jenny eventually convinces a reluctant Miss Sukey that each person had some fault in the fight, and that her time might be better spent attempting to make peace than plotting schemes for revenge. After some time alone, Miss Sukey realises that Miss Jenny is right and apologises. Miss Jenny is overwhelmed, and uses this moment to convince the others in the group to work together, not against each other. Miss Jenny produces a basket of apples that she had spent her own pocket money to buy and offers them to the group as a reward for the good behaviour.
Miss Jenny then proposes to tell of her life before coming to the school, so that the other girls might understand her better. She also stipulates that each girl should have her turn to tell her story for the same reason. The stories of each of the girls is different, but the main theme holds true. Each girl now being able to see the way they behaved before was not acceptable, they pledge to do better, and are glad that the girls are friends now instead of enemies.
The Life of Miss Jenny Peace Her father died when she was only a year old, leaving her with her mother whom she calls 'the Best Woman in the World, and to whose Memory I shall always pay the most grateful Honour.' Her mother raised under the constant reminder that goodness and happiness lived within the same heart. Her mother had 6 children, but only two lived past one year. Jenny and her brother, Harry, often quarrelled, but their mother took pains to teach how much more they could enjoy life if they agreed. She also attempted to show neither any favouritism, and to treat them as equals. Jenny relates how from the moment they were able to think, they made it their rule to obey their mother, as soon as she made it known what she wanted. One day, this immediate obedience saved her brothers life by his quick response to her wishes. Another time, she and her brother quarrelled over something small, that she compares to the fight over the apple. Her mother shows her how shameful she is behaving, first, rather than ordering her to make amends with her brother. She realised her unreasonable stubbornness and was the first to apologise. Harry and Jenny were so close, that it was enough for either one that the other was pleased. Jenny finishes by saying that it would be an endless story to relate all of the good parcels of wisdom her mother had given her, but not before she tells the story of how she came to realise that she was in control of her own feelings. She had found a cat, that became hers and followed her everywhere. One day, some cruel boys chased her cat, and hunted it to exhaustion. The next day the cat crawled back to the house and died at Jenny's feet. She became for a long time inconsolable. Jenny's mother gave her some time to grieve, but eventually told her that, if she would obey her mother as she should, she would remove all signs of sadness and grief from her. Jenny's mother knew that she would obey her enough to at least pretend, but warned her that she could tell the difference, and expected full compliance. She then left Jenny to think about what she had said. While alone Jenny realised that she could indeed be the master of her feelings, and she was doing no good for anyone around her in the state she was in.
Monday In the morning, Jenny gathers her new friends about her and proposes that they spend their free time that afternoon reading a story together. They all agreed, and Jenny reads to them the story of the evil giant Barbarico, the good giant Benefico, and the dwarf Mignon.
Barbarico and Benefico In the story, Barbarico is a giant that kidnaps humans to torture. One day, he encounters the young lovers Fidus and Amata. He grabs both of them and tells them that to avoid instant death they must tell him who they are and what they are doing. Fidus tells them that they are young lovers, asks to not be separated from Amata. Barbarico tells him that he needn't worry, as he would eat Fidus very shortly after Amata, so as to cause as little grief as possible. Benefico manages to see his evil Brother and confront him. Barbarico is afraid of his brother, throws Fidus over his shoulder, and Amata in the river to cover his tracks as he runs away.
Barbarico imprisons Fidus in his cave, and tells his slave, the dwarf Mignon, to only feed him moldy bread and standing water once a day, as he wishes to watch him starve. Mignon takes pity on Fidus, having been made a captive at the age of five, and secretly feeds him good food and water. This begins a friendship between Mignon and Fidus, that would eventually lead to their escaping together. Mignon is careful to not be discovered, but Barbarico becomes suspicious when Fidus remains healthy. Mignon is eventually caught, and Barbarico threatens to eat him. He does not eat him, however, as he remembers his purpose in keeping him for so long – "that he might never want an Object at hand to gratify his Cruelty." The giant chooses to imprison Mignon instead. Mignon escapes after realising his door was left open, and finds a magic fillet that can paralyse the giant. He places it around Barbarico's neck, frees Fidus, and they escape. The pair run to Benefico with the news, and beseech him to act while Barbarico is vulnerable. Benefico slays his evil brother with one stroke, after seeing that he cannot convince Barbarico to repent. Amata and Fidus are reunited and married. Mignon turns out to be Amata's long lost brother. All of the fear that once ruled the kingdom being now gone, all are let to live happy and productive lives.
Monday's Moral Lesson After finishing the story with her friends Jenny takes it to Mrs Teachum, and asks for her approval of having read it to her classmates, citing her mother's insistence that there was a very good moral in the tale. Mrs Teachum assures Jenny that she has no problem with any text that they should choose to read, provided they do so in the correct view. Mrs Teachum explains that it must be understood that the tale is a fantasy. (Giants do not exist.) She also points out the quality of writing, having used specialised diction for the parts of Barbarico and Benefico to show the difference in their nature. Mrs Teachum then cautions to ensure that the girls do not get carried away with fanciful thoughts due to the tale. Jenny takes this to mean that she has chosen poorly, and Mrs Teachum assures her that it is not the content of the story that matters, but how it is read and viewed that decides whether or not it is appropriate.
Tuesday