Cassandra: Florence Nightingale's Angry Outcry Against the Forced Idleness of Victorian Women [Paperback]

Florence Nightingale (Author), Cynthia Macdonald (Epilogue), Myra Stank (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1993 | ISBN-10: 091267055X | ISBN-13: 978-0912670553

   The world knows Florence Nightingale as "the lady with the lamp"-the revered founder of nursing as a respectable profession for women. But few people are aware that Nightingale's career began only after years of struggle to free herself from her suffocating Victorian family. In this surprisingly passionate feminist essay (a "brilliant polemic," states Martha Vicinus), Nightingale denounces the lives of idleness she and other women of her class were forced to lead.

Product Details

• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: The Feminist Press at CUNY (January 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 091267055X
• ISBN-13: 978-0912670553
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 4.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #221,163 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #25 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > History > Europe > England > General
  • #43 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Nonfiction > Women's Studies > General
  • #48 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Specific Groups > Women

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nightingale's Cassandra, December 9, 2009

By 

A. M. Greenwood - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Cassandra: Florence Nightingale's Angry Outcry Against the Forced Idleness of Victorian Women (Paperback)

This writing is excellent and a highly recommended one for new nurses or any nurse who has not read Nightingale's writings. Came in excellent condition and soon after it was ordered.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nightingale's Cassandra Deserves To Be Heard, March 18, 2009

By 

nansee555 (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cassandra: Florence Nightingale's Angry Outcry Against the Forced Idleness of Victorian Women (Paperback)

If you are interested in Victorian gender roles especially, but also nursing history or the Crimean War, Nightingale's Cassandra is a nice text to own. Be aware that it is not a fancy publication, but it is worth the price. It's a slim stapled paperback volume at 64 pages: pp. 1-23 is an interesting intro by Myra Stark, p. 24 is a short chronology of Nightingale's life, pp. 25-55 is the actual essay, and pp. 56-8 is a poem Epilogue by Cynthia Macdonald.

Cassandra is an interesting primary source that gets inside the head of an amazing and overlooked woman. Most people have heard of her as the nurse from a war, but not as many know how outspoken, intelligent, and independent she was. It also gets inside the heads of Victorian women who thought like Nightingale on Victorian gender roles. She is very quotable; I just turned to a random page and came across, "Marriage is the only chance (and it is but a chance) offered to women for escape from this death; and how eagerly and ignorantly it is embraced!" (38).

(Not terribly important, but I purchased this text used and my copy is a bright orange-red rather than blue. I wasn't sure what it was when I opened the package!)