The social standing of a governess
The occupation of governess was one of the few opportunities available to well-bred women in order to earn money, besides marrying well or writing as Jane Austen did. Jane Fairfax was facing the prospect of becoming a governess in Emma as a single accomplished woman from a poor family.
A governess would prepare a child to meet the standards and grace required by polite society. She was responsible for giving the child a good general education, as well as skills such as language (typically French or Italian), music, dancing, drawing & painting, sewing and embroidery skills, and some form of athletic exercise. Although if the family was wealthy, they could hire visiting masters for specific skills.
As well as a sort of home tutor, a governess was also much like a babysitter, keeping the children occupied during the day. Her intimacy with the children could understandably rouse jealousy from the mother.
A governess was stationed above the servants, but they were also not at the social level of the family. It was a strange position to be in and meant they could be quite socially isolated. Servants could be resentful of governesses as they didn't earn much more than them, and yet had a higher social standing than them. A governess could not marry if she wanted to keep her position, however, it was not all bad, as "poor" Miss Taylor marries Mr Weston in Emma, entering the high society she had long served. She was also treated like family by the Woodhouses.
Jane Austen didn't have a governess, but had a close relationship with her niece Fanny Knight's governess, Anne Sharp. Anne was governess at Godmersham from 1804 to 1806. Anne unfortunately resigned due to ill health, and thereafter held a number of other governess positions and lady's companion. By 1823, she was running a girls boarding school in Liverpool.
Sharp liked to write herself, though her occupation kept her too busy to pursue it full time. She did write plays for her students to perform in, and it is believed that Jane may have taken part.
In 1815, Jane wrote to her publisher John Murray to ask that copies of her novel Emma be sent to a number of individuals, including Anne Sharp. In 2012, this first edition owned by Anne was presented at an auction at Sotheby's but remained unsold as the bidding did not reach the pre-sale estimate.
Jane's warm regard for Anne shows that she wasn't snobbish towards Anne's position. James Edward Austen Leigh, Jane's nephew and biographer, noted that Anne was "horribly affected but rather amusing". One of the last surviving letter we have of Jane's was to Anne on 22nd May 1817, in which she attempts to calm her friend about her failing health.
Cassandra Austen sent Anne a lock of Jane's hair after her death, which Anne had requested, and Cassandra and Anne also kept in touch after Jane's death. Anne is known to have visited Chawton on two occasions: June 1815 and after Jane's death in August-September 1820. Jane worried about Anne's situation and invited her to stay many times at Chawton. It has been suggested that she tried to play the role of Emma as a matchmaker for her. She once expressed a wish that one of Anne's employers Sir William P of Yorkshire would fall in love with her, but this did not happen and Anne remained unmarried.
