The Governess

Redgrave's Governess from 1844 is one of his most celebrated social conscience paintings, depicting a young woman working as a governess in a wealthy household — observing the family's festivities from which she is excluded by her ambiguous class position. The governess was one of the most poignant figures in Victorian social life: educated and refined enough to teach the children of the wealthy, yet employed and therefore excluded from the social world she inhabited as a teacher. Redgrave explicitly stated his intention to draw attention to the difficult position of the governess class, making this painting one of the first Victorian paintings to treat the working conditions of middle-class women as a subject deserving moral attention.

The oil on canvas uses a carefully constructed interior with contrasting areas of light and shadow to isolate the governess figure, whose melancholy expression and black dress create a poignant focal point against the comfortable domestic setting.