Sarah Fielding’s work in The Governess is compelling on many
levels considering the context within which it was published. As generally
regarded as one of the earliest pieces of children’s literature, the work
though, doesn’t fall short in teaching adult lessons to children; yet its
difficult to negotiate through that specific idea of teaching children as if
they were adults because the ways in which children were regarded in the 18th
Century is an imperative piece to the discussion. Yet, what did strike me as
particularly fascinating about the stories of the girls were the ways in which
Fielding employs fairy tales and the function of the genre she assigns as
reiterated by Mrs. Teachum. Here, I want to examine “The Princess Hebe: A Fairytale” for its oriental undertones and the
ways Mrs. Teachum situates the “take-home” lesson of the tale she instructs her
students.
Reading the beginning of the tale
immediately reminded me of the argument made by Srinivas Aravamudan in Enlightenment Orientalism. To reiterate
the main point of my presentation: oriental literature greatly influenced the
prolific writings of many Western 18 century writers, who employed the allegories
of orientalism—such as thrones, fantasy, etc—to morally construct their
audiences. The beginning of “The Princess
Hebe: A Fairytale” was full of such enlightenment orientalist features he
discusses. For one, the King is Abdullah and his brother is Abdulham—popular
Arabic names. The King’s throne, his wife’s jewels, and the location of Tonga
all support these orientalist notions, and of course, as Aravamudan indicates—they
were not exclusive to Arabian orientalism. The fairies of the tale, Sybella and
her sister Brunetta, are also oriental aspects—Brunetta’s immaculate and
sexualized beauty was a typical characteristic used to describe the oriental
woman. Fielding uses all of these oriental undertones to create a fairytale
that is set to construct her audience on the importance of obedience and a
piece of mind. As Aravamudan suggests, such authors nearly painted pictures of societies
that were moralistically superior to that of the English readers. Fielding uses
a fairy to illustrate the importance of a content piece of mind to the girls in
her tale, in turn to the children (or arguably adult) audiences.
While the fairy story implicates
many lessons to its readers on beauty versus a piece of mind, Fielding is sure
to bring the story back to realistic settings when reitering its lessons. In
doing so, Mrs. Teachum talks to the girls about the importance of understanding
the functions of such fairytales. She first says, “And as to Fairy Tales in
general, remember, that the Fairies…are introduced by the Writers of those
Tales, only by way of Amusement to the Reader. For if the Story is well
written, the Common course of Things, would produce the same Incidents, without
the Help of Fairies” (141). She continues to note that regardless of whether or
not Sybella was a fairy, her virtue and content mind enabled her to stay away
from accidents. The Princess, on the same note, was able to achieve happiness
only by way of obedience. At the end of the tale, Mrs. Teachum reiterates, “But
let me once more observe to you, that these Fairies are intended only to amuse
you; for remember that the Misery which attended the Princess Hebe, on her disobedience, was the
natural consequence of Disobedience” (143). This reiteration perhaps
illustrates Fielding’s own fear of the backlash from using fairytales by
Western audiences, and she perhaps reiterates its function as solely amusement.
Furthermore, it may also suggest that since she was one of the earliest writers
to employ such fairy usage, she wanted to ensure that her audiences interpreted
the tale correctly rather than dismissively.
On a side note, the blogging of our
course has made me interested to know what my peers across the world are saying
about literature I have been reading. While in graduate school we are
accumstomed to always turn to critical conversations on these literary works, I
am pleased with the ways this course has taught me to value more casual conversations
on these works—which prove interesting. With that being said, I’d like to share
a blog I stumbled upon. The blogger’s name is Ellen Moody, and she doesn’t say
much about herself, other than the fact that the blog focuses on 18th
century literature and she blogs frequently—she also highly encourages linking
to her blog (smile). The link will take you directly to her post on The Governess.
Tomorrow's Class discussion should be fun!
This is an interesting post, Noha, and a good observation of Mrs. Teachum's teaching style. To instruct the girls and enforce a moral lesson, she uses fairy tales to entertain and interest them. However, she makes sure to tell the girls that the use of fairies, and other mythical characteristics, is simply for entertainment purposes and that the characters would have learned their moral lessons whether they were fairies or not. I think Mrs. Teachum, and Fielding alike, fear that the use of fairytales might disillusion the audience and distance readers from the morals. Mrs. Teachum take readers just far enough to entertain them, and when the lesson is presented to them, she brings them back to reality.
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