Spinster family caretaker for their family of origin or for a married sibling's children, "poor relations" who would work "to earn their keep" as nannies or unpaid domestics. For example, being a governess was the fate expected by rejected titular orphan in Charlotte Brontë's novel "Jane Eyre" (1847); Eyre retained that status until the man she loved was widowed and available. A common theme in the fiction writings of author/poet Sandra Cisneros is marital disillusionment; for example. in the poem "Old Maids" (1994). In the Charles Dickens' classic "Great Expectations", the primary antagonist is Miss Havisham, a spinster embittered by being
Dickens in America longer than the Britannia which was 207 feet. He says the Britannia would fit into their largest restaurant, which is appropriately called Britannia. The Britannia held 115 passengers and a crew of 82. The Queen Mary 2 has 2,500 passengers and a crew and staff of 1,300. And Miriam says she never felt it was crowded. It took the Britannia 18 days to cross the Atlantic with Dickens. The Queen Mary 2 does it in five days. Miriam sees the bridge and the kitchen, which is the largest kitchen in the world. Miriam tells us that the anticipation in America