Between 1840 and 1900 thousands of German governesses resided in English middle-class homes. As employees they were subject to domestic authority, which lay mainly with the mother. This study uses the memoirs, advice books, essays and letters of governesses, pupils and employers to analyze how domestic authority operated in individual households. It concludes that domestic authority was powerful but open to challenge and modification. It also demonstrates that mothers were important filters of German culture, that minor differences in English and German domestic styles caused conflicts and that knowledge transfer was a piecemeal and selective process.

中文翻译：

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维多利亚时代中产阶级家庭中的德国女统治者：对家庭权威的挑战？

在1840年至1900年之间，成千上万的德国女招待居住在英语中产阶级家庭中。作为雇员，他们受制于主要由母亲承担的家政权。这项研究使用了回忆录，建议书，论文和家庭教师，学生和雇主的来信，以分析家庭权威在各个家庭中的运作方式。结论是，国内权力虽然强大，但可以挑战和修改。它还表明，母亲是德国文化的重要过滤器，英语和德国家庭风格的微小差异导致了冲突，知识转移是一个零碎的，选择性的过程。