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Lady's Companion
A lady's companion was a woman of genteel birth who lived with a woman of rank or wealth as retainer. The term was in use in the United Kingdom from at least the 18th century to the mid-20th century but it is now archaic. The profession is known in most of the Western world. The role was related to the position of lady-in-waiting, which by the 19th century was applied only to the female retainers of female members of the royal family. Ladies-in-waiting were usually women from the most privileged backgrounds who took the position for the prestige of associating with royalty, or for the enhanced marriage prospects available to those who spent time at court, but lady's companions usually took up their occupation because they needed to earn a living and have somewhere to live. A companion is not to be confused with lady's maid, a female personal attendant roughly equivalent to a "gentleman's gentleman" or valet. Status and duties Like a governess, a lady's companion was not regarded ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Genteel
Gentry (from Old French ''genterie'', from ''gentil'', "high-born, noble") are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past. Word similar to gentle imple and decentfamilies ''Gentry'', in its widest connotation, refers to people of good social position connected to landed estates (see manorialism), upper levels of the clergy, and "gentle" families of long descent who in some cases never obtained the official right to bear a coat of arms. The gentry largely consisted of landowners who could live entirely from rental income, or at least had a country estate; some were gentleman farmers. In the United Kingdom, the term ''gentry'' refers to the landed gentry: the majority of the land-owning social class who typically had a coat of arms, but did not have a peerage. The adjective " patrician" ("of or like a person of high social rank") describes in comparison other analogous traditional social elite strata based in cities, such as free c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The Financial contagion, economic contagion began around September and led to the Wall Street Crash of 1929, Wall Street stock market crash of October 24 (Black Thursday). It was the longest, deepest, and most widespread depression of the 20th century. Between 1929 and 1932, worldwide Gross domestic product, gross domestic product (GDP) fell by an estimated 15%. By comparison, worldwide GDP fell by less than 1% from 2008 to 2009 during the Great Recession. Some economies started to recover by the mid-1930s. However, in many countries, the negative effects of the Great Depression lasted until the beginning of World War II. Devastating effects were seen in both rich and poor countries with falling personal income, prices, tax revenues, and profits. International t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Place Of One's Own
''A Place of One's Own'' is a 1945 British film directed by Bernard Knowles. An atmospheric ghost story based on the 1940 novel of the same title by Osbert Sitwell, it stars James Mason, Barbara Mullen, Margaret Lockwood, Dennis Price and Dulcie Gray. Mason and Mullen are artificially aged to play the old couple. It was one of the cycle of Gainsborough Melodramas. Plot The Smedhursts, newly retired, buy Bellingham House, which has been vacant for over 40 years and is rumoured to be haunted by the previous owner, Elizabeth, who is widely believed to have been murdered by her guardians. Mrs Smedhurst employs a young lady, Annette, as a companion. Annette becomes haunted by Elizabeth, who is waiting for her lover, Dr Marsham. Mr Smedhurst asks the police to find Dr Marsham, and he comes to visit Annette/Elizabeth. The next morning, everyone in the house feels "lighter" and Annette wakes up recovered. A local policeman arrives and announces that Dr Marsham has been found but wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Osbert Sitwell
Sir Francis Osbert Sacheverell Sitwell, 5th Baronet CH CBE (6 December 1892 – 4 May 1969) was an English writer. His elder sister was Edith Sitwell and his younger brother was Sacheverell Sitwell. Like them, he devoted his life to art and literature. Early life Sitwell was born on 6 December 1892 at 3 Arlington Street, St James's, London. His parents were Sir George Reresby Sitwell, fourth baronet, genealogist and antiquarian, and Lady Ida Emily Augusta (''née'' Denison). He grew up in the family seat at Renishaw Hall, Derbyshire, and at family mansions in the region of Scarborough, and went to Ludgrove School, then Eton College from 1906 to 1909. For many years his entry in ''Who's Who'' contained the phrase "Educ ted during the holidays from Eton." In 1911 he joined the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry but, not cut out to be a cavalry officer, transferred to the Grenadier Guards at the Tower of London from where, in his off-duty time, he could frequent theatres and art g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries
''Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries'' is an Australian drama television series. It was first broadcast on ABC on 24 February 2012. It is based on author Kerry Greenwood's historical mystery novels, and it was created by Deb Cox and Fiona Eagger. The series revolves around the personal and professional life of Phryne Fisher ( Essie Davis), a glamorous private detective in 1920s Melbourne. Three series have been broadcast, and a feature film titled ''Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears'' was released in February 2020. A television spin-off ''Ms Fisher's Modern Murder Mysteries'' was broadcast in 2019. ''Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries'' has been aired in over 100 countries and territories. Plot and series ''Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries'' revolves around the personal and professional life of Phryne Fisher ( Essie Davis), a glamorous private detective in late 1920s Melbourne. In the first series, a running theme is the kidnapping and death of Phryne's younger sister Janey when they ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The French Lieutenant's Woman
''The French Lieutenant's Woman'' is a 1969 postmodern historical fiction novel by John Fowles. The plot explores the fraught relationship of gentleman and amateur naturalist Charles Smithson and Sarah Woodruff, the former governess and independent woman with whom he falls in love. The novel builds on Fowles' authority in Victorian literature, both following and critiquing many of the conventions of period novels.Warburton 166. The book was the author's third, after ''The Collector'' (1963) and '' The Magus'' (1965). ''American Libraries'' magazine counted the novel among the "Notable Books of 1969". Subsequent to its initial popularity, publishers produced numerous editions and translated the novel into many languages; soon after the initial publication, the novel was also treated extensively by scholars. The novel remains popular, figuring in both public and academic conversations. In 2005 ''Time'' chose the book as one of the 100 best English-language novels since the maga ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Fowles
John Robert Fowles (; 31 March 1926 – 5 November 2005) was an English novelist of international renown, critically positioned between modernism and postmodernism. His work was influenced by Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus, among others. After leaving Oxford University, Fowles taught English at a school on the Greek island of Spetses, a sojourn that inspired '' The Magus'' (1965), an instant best-seller that was directly in tune with 1960s "hippy" anarchism and experimental philosophy. This was followed by '' The French Lieutenant's Woman'' (1969), a Victorian-era romance with a postmodern twist that was set in Lyme Regis, Dorset, where Fowles lived for much of his life. Later fictional works include '' The Ebony Tower'' (1974), '' Daniel Martin'' (1977), '' Mantissa'' (1982), and ''A Maggot'' (1985). Fowles's books have been translated into many languages, and several have been adapted as films. Biography Birth and family Fowles was born in Leigh-on-Sea in Essex, England ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Little Women
''Little Women'' is a coming-of-age novel written by American novelist Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888). Alcott wrote the book, originally published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869, at the request of her publisher. The story follows the lives of the four March sisters—Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy—and details their passage from childhood to womanhood. Loosely based on the lives of the author and her three sisters, it is classified as an autobiographical or semi-autobiographical novel. ''Little Women'' was an immediate commercial and critical success, with readers eager for more about the characters. Alcott quickly completed a second volume (titled ''Good Wives'' in the United Kingdom, though the name originated with the publisher and not Alcott). It was also met with success. The two volumes were issued in 1880 as a single novel titled ''Little Women''. Alcott subsequently wrote two sequels to her popular work, both also featuring the March sisters: '' Little Men'' (1871) and '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Louisa May Alcott
Louisa May Alcott (; November 29, 1832March 6, 1888) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet best known as the author of the novel ''Little Women'' (1868) and its sequels ''Little Men'' (1871) and '' Jo's Boys'' (1886). Raised in New England by her transcendentalist parents, Abigail May and Amos Bronson Alcott, she grew up among many well-known intellectuals of the day, such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry David Thoreau, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Alcott's family suffered from financial difficulties, and while she worked to help support the family from an early age, she also sought an outlet in writing. She began to receive critical success for her writing in the 1860s. Early in her career, she sometimes used pen names such as A. M. Barnard, under which she wrote lurid short stories and sensation novels for adults that focused on passion and revenge. Published in 1868, ''Little Women'' is set in the Alcott family home, Orchard House, in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emma (novel)
''Emma'' is a novel about youthful hubris and romantic misunderstandings, written by Jane Austen. It is set in the fictional country village of Highbury and the surrounding estates of Hartfield, Randalls and Donwell Abbey, and involves the relationships among people from a small number of families. The novel was first published in December 1815, with its title page listing a publication date of 1816. As in her other novels, Austen explores the concerns and difficulties of genteel women living in Georgian–Regency England. ''Emma'' is a comedy of manners. Before she began the novel, Austen wrote, "I am going to take a heroine whom no one but myself will much like." In the first sentence, she introduces the title character as "Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and a happy disposition... had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her." Emma is spoiled, headstrong, and self-satisfied; she greatly overestimat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jane Austen
Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots often explore the dependence of women on marriage in the pursuit of favourable social standing and economic security. Her works critique the novels of sensibility of the second half of the 18th century and are part of the transition to 19th-century literary realism. Her use of biting irony, along with her realism and social commentary, have earned her acclaim among critics, scholars and readers alike. With the publication of '' Sense and Sensibility'' (1811), ''Pride and Prejudice'' (1813), '' Mansfield Park'' (1814), and '' Emma'' (1816), she achieved modest success but only little fame in her lifetime since the books were published anonymously. She wrote two other novels—'' Northanger Abbey'' and '' Persuasion'', both published posthu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rebecca (novel)
''Rebecca'' is a 1938 Gothic literature, Gothic novel written by English author Daphne du Maurier. The novel depicts an unnamed young woman who impetuously marries a wealthy widower, before discovering that both he and his household are haunted by the memory of his late first wife, the title character. A bestseller which has never gone out of print, ''Rebecca'' sold 2.8 million copies between its publication in 1938 and 1965. It has been adapted numerous times for stage and screen, including a 1939 play by du Maurier herself, the film ''Rebecca (1940 film), Rebecca'' (1940), directed by Alfred Hitchcock, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture, and the Rebecca (2020 film), 2020 remake directed by Ben Wheatley for Netflix. The novel is remembered especially for the character Mrs. Danvers, Mrs Danvers, the West Country estate Manderley, and its opening line: "Last night, I dreamt I went to Manderley again." Plot While working as the companion to a rich American woman o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
