ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors turn from a general analysis of Victorian middle-class girlhood to an account of girlhood experiences of individual Victorian women. The five women whose lives are the focus of this chapter came from diverse social backgrounds, and were of diverse temperaments. Three of them — Florence Nightingale, Emily Shore and Anne Jemima Clough — came from affluent, well-connected families. The two other women, Frances Mary Buss, born in 1827, and Mary Anne Hearne, born in 1834, both came from much less affluent families than Nightingale, Shore or Clough. Florence Nightingale was not a typical middle-class woman; her personality was extraordinary, as were her achievements and family background. The contrast between Florence Nightingale and Emily Shore could have arisen from differences in their own temperaments, and in temperaments of other members of their respective families. The girlhood of Anne Jemima Clough, who was born in 1820, provides both contrasts and similarities to those of Nightingale or Shore.
