The Governess; or, The Little Female Academy

Sarah Fielding1749

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Chapters
12
Series
The Governess; or, The Little Female Academy

Tags

Literature Foreign Literature Women EducationBoarding SchoolEnglish Literary HistoryAllegoryBritish LiteratureChildren's CreationYouth Reading

Summary

The Governess; or, The Little Female Academy is a work by the English writer Sarah Fielding (1710–1768), published in 1749 and generally regarded as the first novel in English literature written specifically for children. The story is set in a small boarding school for girls in northern England: its mistress, Mrs. Teachum, was formerly a clergyman's wife; after her husband and two daughters died one after another and the bank holding her estate failed, she opened the school on the strength of her own learning and integrity, taking in only nine pupils and attending to every task herself. The book centers on these nine girls, aged eleven to fourteen, following the events of each day over a period of a little more than a week: they quarrel over a pie, fall out over vanity and envy, and learn courtesy, honesty, and love for one another through games, outings, and daily life together. Interspersed throughout are the fairy tales, fables, and personal histories the girls tell one another; after each story, Mrs. Teachum leads them in discussing its lesson, linking reading to self-cultivation. The book relies not on thrilling plot turns but on a gentle yet clear-sighted educational purpose, making it an important text for understanding eighteenth-century British views on women's education and the early forms of children's literature.

Editor's review

这是一部在文学史上位置独特、读起来却意外轻快的作品。萨拉·菲尔丁是小说家亨利·菲尔丁的妹妹，也是18世纪英国少见以写作谋生的女性文人；她曾为理查森的《克拉丽莎》撰写评论，并得到后者赞赏。1749年，她把目光投向当时几乎无人认真对待的读者——女孩。在女性识字率约四成的年代，人们普遍认为女孩读小说是危险的消遣，而菲尔丁恰恰要用一部小说告诉她们：读书的真正用处，是让自己变得更明智、更善良。全书结构像一串珠子：九个小女孩的争吵、游戏与远足是线，她们互相讲述的童话、寓言与自述是珠；每颗珠子落下，女教师蒂彻姆太太便与她们一同剖析其中的道理。它不训人，却处处在教；不曲折，却处处有趣。对于想理解儿童文学如何诞生、女性教育如何被论述的读者，这是一本绕不开也读得下去的原典。

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Reading tips

  1. 可先读序言，把握作者对「读书之用」的立论，再进入正文故事。
  2. 把九位女孩的名字与性格列一张简表，读时对照她们各自的缺点与转变。
  3. 书中故事与议论交错，建议每天读「一天」的篇幅，节奏与原书结构相合。
  4. 若读英文原著困难，可搭配18世纪英国女性教育背景资料一并阅读。

Contents

  1. Preface
  2. Introduction
  3. Monday: The First Day
  4. Tuesday: The Second Day
  5. Wednesday: The Third Day
  6. Thursday: The Fourth Day
  7. Friday: The Fifth Day
  8. Saturday: The Sixth Day
  9. Sunday: The Seventh Day
  10. Monday: The Eighth Day
  11. Tuesday: The Ninth Day
  12. Conclusion

FAQ

这本书是亨利·菲尔丁写的吗？ 不是。作者是亨利·菲尔丁的妹妹萨拉·菲尔丁（Sarah Fielding，1710—1768），她另著有《大卫·辛普尔的历险记》（1744）。兄妹二人曾相互切磋写作，但《女教师》是萨拉独立完成的作品。
为什么说它是第一部儿童小说？ 该书1749年出版，被普遍认为是用英语写作的、明确以儿童为对象的第一部小说。它不写骑士传奇，而写一所女子学校里女孩们的日常生活与故事，把教育意图融进叙事之中。
书里有中译本吗？ 目前该书主要以英文原著形式流传，常见版本为18世纪文本的现代重印本（如剑桥大学出版社「剑桥图书馆丛书」影印本）。是否有正式中译本，需查证具体版本信息。

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About the author

Sarah Fielding Author

Sarah Fielding is a novelist worthy of attention in the history of English literature, though public information about her life and the years of her birth and death is limited. The library currently holds one work by her, The Governess; or, The Little Female Academy. Usually classified under literature and foreign literature, this work is set in a girls' boarding school and tells of the growth and education of young women, occupying a certain place in the early tradition of children's literature and women's writing. In subject matter she attends to the formation of female character, friendship, and everyday ethics, and her narrative style tends toward a combination of realism and moral instruction. Because public information is limited, her full life, complete body of work, and later influence are difficult to describe in detail, yet this representative work alone shows her participation in and contribution to the development of the eighteenth-century novel.