Scotch Verdict: Miss Pirie and Miss Woods v. Dame Cumming Gordon
by Lillian Faderman
120 Members (3.88)
On This Page
Description
In 1810, a Scottish student named Jane Cumming accused her school mistresses, Jane Pirie and Marianne Woods, of having an affair in the presence of their students. Dame Helen Cumming Gordon, the wealthy and powerful grandmother of the accusing student, advised her friends to remove their daughters from the Drumsheugh boarding school. Within days, the institution was deserted and the two women were deprived of their livelihoods.Award-winning author Lillian Faderman recreates the events show more surrounding this notorious case, which became the basis for Lillian Hellman's famous play, The Children's Hour. Reconstructing the libel suit filed by Pirie and Woods-which resulted in a scotch verdict, or a verdict of inconclusive/not proven-Faderman builds a compelling narrative from court transcripts, judges' notes, witnesses' contradictory testimony, and the prejudices of the men presiding over the case. Her fascinating portrait documents the social, economic, and sexual pressures shaping the lives of nineteenth-century women and the issues of class and gender contributing to their marginalization. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
Members
- Recently Added By
Author Information
20+ Works 4,055 Members
Lillian Faderman is an internationally revered scholar of lesbian and ethnic history and literature. She is the recipient of six Lambda Literary Awards, two American Library Association Awards, and several lifetime achievement awards for her scholarship. She is the author of Surpassing the Love of Men and Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers, both New show more York Times Notable Books. show less
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1983
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 120
- Popularity
- 270,632
- Rating
- (3.88)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 7
- ASINs
- 1
