Angel
The image of a nurse as a ministering angel was promoted in the 19th century as a counter to the then image of a nurse as a dissolute drunk, exemplified by Dickens' Sarah Gamp. The model nurse in this image was moral, noble and religious, like a devout nun — chaste and abstemious — rather than an unpleasant witch. Her skills would be practical and her demeanour would be stoic and obedient. Florence Nightingale promoted this image because, at the time, the idea of having female nurses attending the British army fighting the Crimean war was controversial, being thought immoral and revolutionary.
Read more about this topic: Nurse Stereotypes
Famous quotes containing the word angel:
“Yet I am the necessary angel of earth,
Since, in my sight, you see the earth again,
Cleared of its stiff and stubborn, man-locked set,
And, in my hearing, you hear its tragic drone
Rise liquidly in liquid lingerings....”
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)
“Beneath them sit the aged men, wise guardians of the poor;
Then cherish pity, lest you drive an angel from your door.”
—William Blake (1757–1827)
“If an angel were ever to tell us anything of his philosophy I believe many propositions would sound like 2 times 2 equals 13.”
—G.C. (Georg Christoph)