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  • she lived very isolated, as many other British women in India, too:

"they suffered from having "nothing to do"" because there are only "few companions of her own sex, no shop windows to look at, no new books to read, no theatres" (Steel 7; Fowler 26)

"all British women in India tended to polarize at these two extremes of feminine or masculine behaviour" (Fowler 41)

3.1 Changes in the Educational System

  • "George went to the Hindu College ... the Miss Edens were to accompany him ... It is always an interesting sight, and the boys would beat in history and mathematics any sixth-form boy at Eton, and indeed in history most men; they have such wonderful memories." (Eden, LfI, II, 147)

  • "Ten years ago I suppose no Hindu could or would speak a word of English." (Eden, LfI, II, 147)

3.2 The Servants and the Natives

Emily Eden in India

  • "George's head man and mine are the only two amongst the whole three hundred who speak English."

(Eden, LfI, I, 144)

  • "George's servant writes and reads, which is a very unusual accomplishment" (Eden, LfI, I, 144)

  • "Certainly education is progressing rapidly here, and must do great good" (Eden, LfI, II, 145)

HS TAS goes virtual: Re-Constructing Government House Calcutta

Emily's 17 servants:

  • Rosina (ayah) and Wright (maid)
  • a kitmagar (personal attendant)
  • two tailors
  • two Dacca embroiderers
  • Jimmund (cares for Chance, the dog)
  • a meter (sweeps the rooms with a broom)
  • two bearers (pull the punkah)
  • a sentry (minds that they do not steal anything)
  • a jemadar (chief servant; wears a dagger)
  • four hurkurus (postal runners)

all dressed in white muslin, red and gold turbans and sashes, no shoes and

stockings

WS 2013/14

Prof. Dr. Ghosh-Schellhorn

Aline Brost

4. Conclusion

(Fowler 25f; Eden, LfI, I, 84, 132f; Eden, LfI, II, 231)

Emily Eden gave insights into

  • the daily routines in Government House

  • the situation of the servants and the natives

  • various rooms and objects

  • educational changes in India

better understanding of this time period in Calcutta

3.1 Changes in the Educational System

Possible future research:

  • more detailed description of the natives' situation in Calcutta

  • possible hierarchy of the servants in Government House

  • the current educational system in India

  • How did India change Emily Eden and her relationship to her brother and her sister?

5. Sources

Outline

  • 1834-38: Supreme Council of

India

  • 1835: Minute on Indian Education
  • English (instead of Persian or Sanskrit) as the medium of instruction in secondary education

  • training of English-speaking Indians as teachers

  • Western concepts and ideas

Eden, Emily. Letters from India. 2 vols. London, 1872. Print.

[abbreviation in the text: LfI, I or LfI, II]

Fowler, Marian. Below the Peacock Fan: First Ladies of the Raj. Ontario: Penguin Books Canada Limited, 1987. Print.

Stilz, Gerhard. Grundlagen zu Literatur in Englischer Sprache. vol. 4: Indien. Wilhelm Fink Verlag München, 1982. 52-56. Print.

Steel, Flora Annie. Miss Stuart's Legacy. London: William Heinemann, 1900. Print.

Evans, Stephen. "Macaulay's minute revisited: Colonial language policy in nineteenth-century India." Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 23.4 (2002): 260–281. Print.

MacKenzie, John. "A family empire." BBC History Magazine 1 (2013). Print.

"Government of India Acts." The Editors of The Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica, n.p. Web. 21 January 2014.

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/240193/Government-of-India-Acts

1. Introduction

2. Biography

3. Emily Eden in Government House Calcutta

3.1 Changes in the Educational System

3.2 The Servants

3.3 Rooms and Objects

4. Conclusion and Outlook

5. Sources

3.2 The Servants and the Natives

3.3 Rooms and objects

Other servants in Government House:

Government House itself:

Thank you for your attention!

The Garden of Government House:

1. Introduction

"but at the first moment of seeing this house, I thought I had never fancied anything so magnificent"

(Eden, LfI, I, 90)

"It too, looked reassuringly British and dignified, gleaming white through the dark night, its windows ablaze with light ... a fit symbol of British power in the Indian subcontinent"

(Fowler 24)

sources:

Gerhard Stilz. Grundlagen zu Literatur in Englischer Sprache. vol. 4: Indien. Wilhelm Fink Verlag München, 1982. 52-56. Print.

Stephen Evans. "Macaulay's minute revisited: Colonial language policy in nineteenth-century India," Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 23.4 (2002): 260–281. Print.

  • East India Company sent Governor-Generals to rule over India

demonstration of British imperial power

  • 1836 - 1842: Lord Auckland

"the grass ... much greener than the grass near London in summer" (Eden, LfI, I, 94)

"there are some beautiful plants in it, and I am going to have a little garden of my own made close by the house. There are no flowers near it now." (Eden, LfI, I, 137)

"Gloriosa superba" (Eden, LfI, I, 206)

"We cannot achieve cowslip, and nobody has ever seen a daisy, but the yucca ... with its thousands of white bells, grows along the sides of every road" (Eden, LfI, I, 206)

  • a nazir (Lord Auckland's head servant)
  • Aides-de-Camp (companions/friends/confidants; e.g. Captain Byrne: management of the household)
  • the doctor
  • the private secretary of the Governor-General
  • a Hindustani master
  • two bearers (with a sedan at the bottom of the stairs)
  • servants who drove away the mosquitoes (only for Lord Auckland)
  • a jeweller

"the natives were not clowns or clods or pieces of furniture. They were sensitive, even admirable, human beings. She [Emily Eden] saw them not only as individuals, but as friends who inspired affection ... her beloved jemadar, Pertab and, eventually, the old ... Ranjit Singh"

(Fowler 74)

Yucca

Gloriosa Superba

source: http://www.ogrodkroton.pl/zdjecia/351.jpg

http://shop.mein-schoener-garten.de/pflanzen/palmlilie-yucca-staudenkollektionen_pid_1430_13670.html

  • a mussautcher (torch bearer)
  • musalchees (lighting the house)
  • syces (responsible for the horses/the carriage)
  • a black gardener
  • eight palanquin-bearers
  • postillions (coachmen, e.g. Webb)
  • chokeydars (Government House policemen)
  • mihturs (sweep the rooms, most degraded caste of the servants)
  • a metrannee (lowest servant of all, sort of under-housemaid)
  • a dooria (looks after dogs/animals)

Objects:

Letters from India, Vol. 1:

Letters from India, Vol. 2:

"Had a long talk with George about furnishing this house. It is in a wretched state ... armchair, which I intended for my own room, I have actually been obliged to lend to the drawing-room ... it is so soft; the sofas are so wretchedly hard [emphasis added]" (118)

"There is nothing tempting in Calcutta, except shawls ... and a few Chinese things [emphasis added]" (133)

"The two Dacca men are embroidering a gown in coloured silks, and I never saw such lovely work. [emphasis added]" (181)

"I have been buying some beautiful Chinese satin [emphasis added]" (200)

"sent us two very pretty filigree card-cases of silver [emphasis added]" (221)

"My Singapore silk has arrived a beautiful sort of gold and silver brocade, just made for a fancy dress ... We have also got a pair of beautiful bracelets [emphasis added]" (156)

"two boxes addressed to you ... in one of which are a turban and slippers ... little caps which are regular native baby's caps ... In the other box there are Willy's tiger and leopard-skins ... I sent some of the Patna toys ... The elephant is an exact image of ours at Barrackpore, and the camel and man on it are very correct likewise [emphasis added]" (320f)

The Rooms in Government House:

"a comb, which is exactly the very thing the natives can to in perfection [emphasis added]" (6)

"sent George such a beautiful cabinet ... It is about the size of a small wardrobe, with shelves, and drawers, and desks, and the most beautiful style of lacker-work [emphasis added]" (76)

"I have got the four silver posts to turn into legs of a table which is to hold all my pretty silver things. The table itself, I think, should be Japan, and I hope it may be picked up in the China Bazaar [emphasis added]" (159)

"a curious Chinese lamp that has been sent to George from China ... two very curious wooden figures, which I am going to turn into the supports of a dressing-table [emphasis added]" (221)

"I have had such a curious present today a Chinese god the household deity of Admiral Quang ... It is a japanned red and gold a nice fat idol in a beautiful chair [emphasis added]" (234)

"A Parsee friend has imported such a beautiful carved ivory boat for me ... it is like the finest lace, and the three little cabins are fitted up with ivory tables and sofas, and Chinese drinking out of ivory tea-cups [emphasis added]" (236)

"a silver betel-nut box for me [emphasis added]" (258)

"a Chinese lamp and a Chinese screen ... The lamp was beautifully painted ... the screen - in a carved ebony frame, with a brilliant picture of flowers, and a peacock made in some mysterious Chinese manner. [emphasis added]" (262)

"a jade vase and a jade cup ... so large of the kind, so perfect and well carved [emphasis added]" (273)

Decoration of the Rooms for Balls:

3.2 The Servants and the Natives

"our own drawing-room, which is very English-looking [emphasis added]" (Eden, LfI, I, 83)

"my boudoir; very much the size of the Picture Gallery at Grosvenor House; three large glass doors on one side look over over the city, three more at the end at the great gate and entrance ... Three sets of folding doors open into the bedroom and two bath-rooms at the other end; and three more on the other side into the dressing-room [emphasis added]" (Eden, LfI, I, 91)

"I never saw such a ball-room as that at Government House, and the banqueting-rooms below are just as fine [emphasis added]" (Eden, LfI, I, 105)

"In my sitting-room with the doors and windows closed, except one where there is a tattie (a rush mat which covers the whole window, and which is kept constantly wet, so that the hot wind may blow cool through it) [emphasis added]" (Eden, LfI, I, 152)

"the ground floor ... no rooms for us there" (Eden, LfI, I, 152)

"I have discovered an accidental draft in the Marble Hall, where the wind comes down ... cooled by the tatties, and where Fanny and I have sat all this week without a punkah [emphasis added]" (Letters from India, Vol. 2, 30)

"The staircases were beautifully ornamented with flags belonging to half the ships in the river, and the bands played 'God save the King' ... The Town Hall is an immense building, with two rows of pillars ... between each pillar there was a drapery of pink crape, to which hung large wreath of evergreens, and in that wreath there was alternatively and E and an F ... or roses [emphasis added]" (Eden, LfI, I 293)

"our great Queen's ball ... all the marble halls are full of supper tables ... the ball-rooms upstairs are painted all over Queen's arms ... sofas and ottomans [emphasis added]" (Eden, LfI, II, 162)

"We marked out the whole outline of the house with lamps, and, by means of bamboos, the great dome was entirely covered with them; the four gateways covered with coloured lights in devices, and Victorias and Alberts in all directions" (Eden, LfI, II, 167)

Emily's relationship with them is ambivalent:

Eden, LI, I, 1, 80, 130, 140f, 150; Eden, LI, II, 19, 30f, 60, 88f)

3.1 Changes in the Educational System

She showed respect for the servants/natives, was thankful and to a certain extend cares for them:

2. Biography

She saw herself clearly as superior and acted respectively:

"The ayah has been the happiness of my life" (Eden, LfI, I, 9)

"my attentive jemadar (how you all live without a jemadar I cannot guess, I think I always must have had one)" (Eden, LfI, I, 108)

"It proved to me how kind the native servants are to their master's pets" (Eden, LfI, I, 269)

"my jemadar, that jewel of a man! who ... is my stay and support ... and takes care of everything I have" (Eden, LfI, II, 32)

"Poor Rosina is so dreadfully ill. I have done nothing but cry about her ... for nearly six years she has been such a good affectionate ... to me." (Eden, LfI, II 249)

"Natives were a particular butt for her wit. ... She also laughed at her maid Rosina's bundling and parodied her speech ... Natives were slightly sub-human, and there to amuse" (Fowler 48)

"The only amusing thing I have here is their broken English" (Eden, LfI, I, 210)

source: http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait.php?LinkID=mp09660

  • born on 04/03/1797 in Westminster

  • died on 05/08/1869 in Kensington

  • since 1801: Eden Farm (Beckenham, Kent)

  • her uncle:
  • 1st Earl of Minto
  • became Governor-General of India in 1806

  • brother: George
  • 13 years older
  • very close to Emily, not that close to Fanny
  • 1814: became Lord Auckland
  • 1836 - 1842: Governor-General of India

  • sister: Fanny
  • "less intellectual ... more feminine, frivolous" (Fowler 17)
  • met the concept of a woman during that time

Thomas Macaulay:

  • British historian and Whig politician
  • 1830: Member of Parliament

  • Government of India Act 1833:
  • Governor-General of Bengal

Governor-General of India

with legislative powers for entire India

Lord William Bentinck

  • deprivation of legislative powers of the Governor of Madras and Bombay

  • first Law Member of the Governor-General's Council
  • "educated at home by governesses" (Fowler 16)

  • she read many books:

Life of Johnson (Boswell), Shakespeare, The

Holy Bible

  • very intellectual her brother George was her role model

  • "in personality and tastes more "masculine" than "feminine"" (Fowler 16)

  • she was mainly interested in politics

  • "brisk, bold and boisterous" (Fowler 17)

  • "beat the men at chess, tramped with them through the woods, argued politics round the fire" (Fowler 18)

Emily did not match the concept of a woman at all.

She represented the opposite.

sources:

John MacKenzie, "A family empire," BBC History Magazine (Jan 2013)

"Government of India Acts." The Editors of The Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica, n.p. Web. 21 January 2014.

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/240193/Government-of-India-Acts

3. Emily Eden in Government House Calcutta

2. Biography

  • her social activities: writing journal-letters to her family and friends at home
  • 1832: Lord Melbourne wanted to marry her, but she rejected

Emily

Fanny

changed into the opposite:

  • "brave"
  • "resourceful"
  • "strong"
  • "independent"

(Fowler 40)

changed into "the 'feminine' stereotype" set up by the English society:

  • "passive"
  • "sentimental"
  • "dreamy"
  • "physically frail"

(Fowler 39)

3. Emily Eden in Government House Calcutta

"In India, Emily reverted to the 'delicate woman' norm. She languished on her sofa, allowed herself to be carried about, and generally leaned heavy on the comforting cushions of English convention."

(Fowler 39)

"For Fanny, the tiger-hunt proved to be the highlight of her Indian stay. She loved riding on an elephant ... sleeping in a tent by night"

(Fowler 40)

"Emily didn't want a mate because, in her eyes, she had one already. She loved her brother George deeply and devotedly and passionately. She thought of George and herself as a permanent couple, and she was quite as dutiful and caring in regard to his physical and mental well-being as any wife. It was Emily's love for George which would radically and permanently alter her life." (Fowler 19)

  • she was very sea-sick and ill on their way to India
  • George and Fanny had no problems with their heath which annoyed Emily
  • she was afraid of loosing George:

"and there, too, he will be so busy that I shall lose him again as a companion"

(Eden, LfI, I, 66)

  • 03/10/1835: they started their journey from Portsmouth on the ship The Jupiter together with:
  • William G. Osborne (nephew)

rather social than military tasks in India, e.g. organisation of parties and balls

  • Dr Drummond (personal physician)
  • St Cloup (a black French chef)
  • Wright (half-Portuguese, Emily's maid) and Rosina (half-Indian, Emily's ayah)
  • Jones (Fanny's maid)

The worst thing of all for Emily ... she never saw George "except in a crowd"

(Fowler 33)

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