The Foundling Museum showed us the life and hardships that came with being an orphan and a working class woman. Women and men were sex-segregated and pushed into their gender specific roles at such a young age that a lot of times people didn't know where they came from or who they were. This museum had multiple examples of both pathos and logos, tapping into our emotions causing us to think about life at that time. Similar to Jane, the foundling children were lost and had lost their identity. They had to find comfort in small items, memories, or dreams and pray that one day something better would happen to them.
The Geffrye Museum had a row of exhibits showing us what a typical London home would have looked like in 1880. The head of the household was typically a banker, insurance worker, or business man and the home was dedicated to family life. The woman in the home spent their day learning about music, singing, fancy needlework, and foreign language. The woman of these homes were also looked at as "ill-equipped" to run a home; therefor, there were multiple workers who did various jobs throughout the house. For example, Jane was a teacher for the young girl and someone else was in charge of cooking, cleaning, etc...
This was a standard room for a governess in a London home. The room included a bed, dresser, fire place, and small closet sized kitchen and was on the top floor. This would have been were Jane would have spent time where she wasn't doing her duties as a governess.
This was one of the rooms shown in the London home exhibits. When the men would leave for the day, the women would begin their daily duties. Everyday once a day woman and girls would go to the drawing room to learn about the arts.
This is a close up view of William Quiller Orchardson's "The First Cloud". The woman in the picture is clearly upper class as she is dressed in a fine dress before she goes down for dinner. Though she is not a working woman, she shows different qualities of woman in this time period. She is standing away from the man in the picture as if she had just done something atypical of the time and is looking off into her reflection. By looking into a mirror, she suggests to the viewer that she either has confidence as a woman or that she enjoys looking at herself and is a bit conceited. Women were expected to do as their husbands said and looking at the full view of this picture, one could say that this woman, like Jane, stood up for herself and what she believed in.
William Quiller Orchardson's 1832-1910
The First Cloud, 1887
Oil on Canvas
I really enjoyed your post Laura! I think your pictures and captions really explain what it was like to Come of Age as a Worker. I must say, your photography skills are impressive- especially the one in the drawing room in the Geoffrey Museum. I can really tell you put a lot of thought and time into this. Keep up the great work!
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures you must have a really nice camera! I especially enjoy the ones from the Geoffrey. You did a great job of explaining the Foundling Museum and what it was all about and how that relates to Jane's life.
ReplyDeleteLaura, your visual skills are really impressive. I esp liked how you included not only the full painting by Orchardson but also the detail focusing on the woman, which was the purpose of the visit. Help us see what you see by commenting even more on the details that you think are esp important -- and that link to the novel we're studying and the theme of the week. You did this well with the last visit, but you could try to extend this detailed commentary to the other visuals, too. Nice start!
ReplyDeleteYour pictures are stunning Laura. The picture of the painting is very well done because it allows you to really focus on just one part without seeing the whole picture. Then, once the whole painting is seen, it changes the interpretation of what you may have seen before. Great first week!
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