English schools for girls: then and now (6 photos)

It is worth remembering the book by Charlotte Bronte, who wrote "Jane Eyre", because there she described her experience of living in an English maiden school. The experience is sad and painful.





First we need to understand at what point these schools. After all, back in the Middle Ages, literate people could be counted on the fingers. All knowledge was obtained in church and learn at least something It was possible to become the “Bride of Christ.” But humanity moved forward by leaps and bounds, reading and writing came to ordinary homes, mothers shared knowledge with their daughters, and they spent more and more time in home libraries.



That’s how it turned out that educated (can read, write and count) the girl is quite capable of not just working for someone, but even run a business. Often merchants bequeathed their business to their wives or daughters, and they took it on and coped successfully. But still, until in the second half of the 19th century in England, an educated lady was more likely exception to the rule. The girls had two options: marriage and status mothers and wives, or become governesses.

Girls' schools themselves had existed since the 17th century, but it was terrible rarity. Madame de Maintenon opened a school in 1686 noble maidens in Saint-Cyr. In 1764 he began his work of the famous Smolny Institute. Napolin did not lag behind and opened for daughters of their school officers.





Jane Austen and her sister ended up in a decent and expensive private school (they didn’t stay there long - the price turned out to be unaffordable for families). But the Bronte sisters were unlucky - a school for the daughters of the clergy Cowan Bridge, where the four sisters ended up, was later described by Charlotte in "Jane Eyre" and quite detailed. There they suffered from both hunger and abuse, and from icy floors and beds. Two older sisters died during the typhus epidemic.

Interestingly, there was even a scandal because of this when the director Cowan-bridge recognized himself in Bronte's book and wanted to sue her for slander. But the matter was hushed up. And many English schools of those times were extremely strict with their pupils and were more like monasteries. Black boring dresses, cruel punishments (including physical) for the guilty. And this continued until the end of the 20th century! Yes, the level of cruelty decreased, but there was no outright ban.



Since 1880, a new law has been passed: compulsory education for all children of England. During the training, history, geography, natural sciences, literature, foreign languages, compulsory Holy Bible. And, of course, the most important thing, which received great attention attention was everything that increased the demand for them during marriage: music, dancing, embroidery, sewing... Girls from a young age were dressed up in uncomfortable and hard corsets to improve posture.



At first these schools were a good way to "melt" girls from home until marriage. But even after education for women has ceased to be something unusual, such private schools in England are not disappeared.



Today there are hundreds of such schools for girls and they popular. Graduates of these institutions have more chances to admission to good universities, they have higher ratings. Students of such schools are less distracted during lessons and more focused on the process training. And the absence of boys also affects girls' expression leadership qualities and the choice of so-called “male” extracurricular sections.

Many women in England, famous throughout the world, graduated from private girls' schools.