0 (especially in the past) a woman who lives with a family and teaches their children at home -- （尤指舊時的）家庭女教師
It also suggests the potential a governess has to change the moral direction of her students.
The same was true for governesses, although they only lived in the houses of the rich.
In the case of domestic servants and governesses, the nature of their employment enforced dispersion, rather than concentration.
First, there is the figure of the governess, the outsider willingly admitted into the family - clearly without having her spiritual credentials checked.
The governess is blamed for her pupils' misbehavior, but is given no method to prevent it.
She never attended a class, never studied for an examination, never had to adjust even to the discipline of a governess.
However, by the 1840s, calls for the more systematic education of schoolmistresses and governesses were multiplying.
The governess becomes visible when something is wrong - when her pupil's performance is faulty.
