The Governess: A Portrait of Middle-Class Employment

E938234

The Governess: A Portrait of Middle-Class Employment is a Victorian-era painting by Rebecca Solomon that highlights the social isolation and precarious status of a middle-class governess within a bourgeois household.

All labels observed (1)

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Victorian-era artwork ⓘ
painting ⓘ
artHistoricalContext Victorian social realism ⓘ
artisticIntention critique of social inequality ⓘ
sympathetic representation of governesses ⓘ
associatedWith Rebecca Solomon’s interest in women’s social conditions ⓘ
countryOfOrigin United Kingdom ⓘ
creator Rebecca Solomon ⓘ
creatorGender female artist ⓘ
depictionType figurative painting ⓘ
depicts bourgeois household ⓘ
governess ⓘ
middle-class employment ⓘ
precarious social status ⓘ
social isolation ⓘ
focusesOn conditions of middle-class women who had to work ⓘ
female professional employment in the 19th century ⓘ
genre genre painting ⓘ
historicalContext Victorian middle-class domestic ideology ⓘ
rise of paid female domestic educators ⓘ
interpretedAs exploration of liminal class identity ⓘ
feminist-leaning social critique ⓘ
mainSubject middle-class governess ⓘ
medium oil painting ⓘ
movement Victorian art ⓘ
narrativeType domestic narrative scene ⓘ
portrays ambiguous social position of governesses ⓘ
emotional distance between governess and employing family ⓘ
tension between respectability and dependence ⓘ
relatedOccupationDepicted governess as live-in employee ⓘ
setInEnvironment middle-class domestic interior ⓘ
setInPeriod 19th-century Britain ⓘ
socialCommentaryOn dependence of unmarried middle-class women ⓘ
employment options for educated women ⓘ
power imbalance between employers and governesses ⓘ
subjectMatterCategory domestic service and education ⓘ
women in the workplace ⓘ
theme class distinctions ⓘ
domestic labor ⓘ
gender roles ⓘ
marginalization within the middle class ⓘ
social hierarchy ⓘ
women’s work ⓘ
visualContrastBetween governess and bourgeois family members ⓘ
visualMotif differences in dress indicating status ⓘ
separation within the same room ⓘ
workTitleLanguage English ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Rebecca Solomon → notableWork → The Governess: A Portrait of Middle-Class Employment ⓘ