Womens education.

Upstart Joined: 21 Jul 2009 Posts: 2

women of nobility, what was their education like? did thay have tutor/ governess, and for how long?
What did they learn?

Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:41 pm Post subject:

Affluent, noble families had governesses for their daughters. They provided instruction in ladylike skills and arts, like needlework, watercolor painting, music, dancing, etc. But they also provided general reading-writing-arithmetic education, plus some foreign language instruction. French was almost always taught. Italian, German, and other European languages might also be taught if the governess had the skill and the student the desire to learn. The level of education in general depended on both the ability of the student and the wishes of the family. For example, certain families prided themselves on their well-educated daughters, and provided them with a solid classical education similar to what boys received. Others simply gave their girls enough education to get along in Society.

There were also schools for girls, but those were typically patronized by the middle and upper middle classes, not the nobility.

Education for girls was a topic that swung back and forth throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. At the time of the Regency, there was a general backlash against too much education for girls -- all part of the fear that giving too much power (ie education) to the "lower orders" could result in another revolution like the one in France. I've seen articles in The Lady's Monthly Museum, the most socially conservative of the magazines of the period, that warn against educating a young woman "above her station."
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Upstart Joined: 21 Jul 2009 Posts: 2

thank you soo much for your answer. i've found all the answers on here are awesome and really help me understand.

i appreciate it.

1 other ?: at what age is the education finished? what age does this begin, to being prepared to be a lady?

notworthy

Viscountess of the Manor Joined: 20 Sep 2006 Posts: 1100

Education began early, just like it does today (though there was no exact age, even for boys). A girl would likely be done with her studies when she was ready to come out into Society; so by 16 or 17 (though she might then be more focused on learning things she'd need to know for her debut, like the most popular dances, how to manage her presentation gown, etc.).
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-Kalen
w/a Isobel Carr
Ripe for Pleasure, May 2011
Book 1: The League of Second Sons
www.isobelcarr.com