The inherent influence of travel on an emerging feminist icon : Florence Nightingale abroad.

Abstract

The primary intent of this research is to evaluate and deduce events leading up to, during, and after the travels of Florence Nightingale abroad in Europe and the near East. This work examines the perception of how enforced idleness brought about the madness of many Victorian women while others sought to find freedom outside the home. My scholarship investigates the influences on Florence Nightingale and what encouraged her to step outside the predetermined Victorian life set up by her family. The nineteenth century proved to be a pivotal period in the development of what would later become the women's movement. The goal is to show how Nightingale's heightened education, close relationship with her father, and specifically her extensive travel tendered the courage she needed to succeed in her lifelong call to service. Nightingale spent several years traveling with family friends, Selena and Charles Bracebridge, a couple who gave her unfettered freedom to explore the ancient cities of Rome, Athens, and Alexandria. In her youth she and her family took the Grand Tour and exposed her to Italian and French intellectuals and exiles during the Risorgimento in Italy. Most prior research on Nightingale focused on her life after she gained recognition for her work during the Crimean War and contribution to the fields of medicine and nursing. This focus inadvertently undermines the significance of unfettered movement and intellectual ventures that influenced her determination change the face of modern medicine. This research draws upon mostly primary sources including memoirs, published letters, and travel journals written by Florence Nightingale. The British Library and Wellcome Library of Medicine house two of the most comprehensive collections of Nightingale writing. The Wellcome Library has a wonderful collection of Florence Nightingale papers, including copies from the Verney Collection at the Claydon House. The Verney Collection is the contribution of Parthenope Verney (nee?ü Nightingale) and the most complete collection of Nightingale papers available. The scholarship on this subject has been exciting. Travel became an escape from gender roles and oppression for many Victorian women travelers. They became travel writers or accompanied family and friends on the many tours now available since the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Many female travelers identified with the people of the land as objects of study. They related to the native people because as women they were also objectified in Europe. As I delve deeper into the role of education and travel into women of the period a common thread begins to emerge, the most important being their insatiable thirst for knowledge. Nightingale saw wonders and experiences that no human will ever have these cultures and times are long past. What powerful forces she explored to become a founding feminist, a pioneer in medicine, and a staunch advocate for constant scholarly pursuits. Primary sources reflect the public statements and correspondence of Florence Nightingale. These particular sources are indicated the British Library, the Wellcome Library, and the London Metropolitan Archives. The British Library consisted of a majority of correspondence letters, some within manuscripts and other published. A considerable number of published sources from the archives at the Claydon House that now reside at the Wellcome Library. To this effect, the archives within Wellcome and published works within the British Library have contributed a host of rare and unique sources attributing to this research.