In the Victorian mind, the governess was often viewed as a threat. She was an educated, unmarried woman living in close quarters with the man of the house. This is where the trope of the "wicked governess" or the "husband-stealer" comes from. In reality, most governesses were simply trying to survive, but they were often treated with suspicion by the lady of the house and contempt by the other servants.
: The governess occupied a lonely, ambiguous space often described as "betwixt and between". Because she was a "lady" by birth but an employee by necessity, she was neither a member of the host family nor a peer to the working-class domestic servants.
In the Victorian era, a was an educated, unmarried woman—typically from the middle or upper-middle class—hired to live with a wealthy family to educate their children and prepare them for high society . The Life and Role of the Victorian Governess
If you crack open a Victorian novel—from Jane Eyre to The Turn of the Screw —you will inevitably meet the governess. She is one of the most fascinating, tragic, and essential figures of the 19th century.