In a literary context, the industrialized city of London and its working class are one in the same. Each were written as a reflection of the other, and as the former fell to filth and pollution, those crowded in the center of the refuse could do nothing but succumb to their own depravity. Yet among these inhabitants stands a recurring figure, appearing again and again within reports and narratives alike. Perhaps best labelled as the “city woman,” she grew to be a focal point in discussions and critiques, dismantling connotations as she stepped away from her role as the caretaker of the home. By working outside instead, she thus, correctly or not, came to represent the ills of city life, her mind “polluted” for exposing herself to such a society.
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The importance in dissecting this interview, however, is due to this child actually being in the early stages of developing into the aforementioned “city woman” herself. Though only eight years old, Mayhew admits she was “in thoughts and manner, a woman” (64), having already experienced a harsh life of poverty and abuse. He furthers this connection throughout his retelling of her story, through appearance and demeanor alike. Describing her purposefully to invoke a face of an older woman, he indicates that “her little face...was wrinkled were dimples ought to have been, and she would sigh frequently” (65). Coupled with the fact that all she knew about was “watercresses, and what they fetched” (65), she is the spitting image of a woman forced to make her living on the streets of London due to having no other lasting opportunity, regardless of the fact that she is still a girl. Mayhew, however, pushes this juxtaposition into her speech, heightening reality in order to fully convey his message. Despite being a young, uneducated girl, she is still reported as speaking thoughtfully and in depth, at one point even recalling her moment of abuse through the metaphor of “dancing down stairs” (65). For readers, this piece of dialogue is meant to capture their attention, her methodical way of composing her past again making her older than her years. No longer a child yet not quite a woman, she instead symbolizes a loss of childhood innocence within the bitter confines of lower society in
The importance in dissecting this interview, however, is due to this child actually being in the early stages of developing into the aforementioned “city woman” herself. Though only eight years old, Mayhew admits she was “in thoughts and manner, a woman” (64), having already experienced a harsh life of poverty and abuse. He furthers this connection throughout his retelling of her story, through appearance and demeanor alike. Describing her purposefully to invoke a face of an older woman, he indicates that “her little face...was wrinkled were dimples ought to have been, and she would sigh frequently” (65). Coupled with the fact that all she knew about was “watercresses, and what they fetched” (65), she is the spitting image of a woman forced to make her living on the streets of London due to having no other lasting opportunity, regardless of the fact that she is still a girl. Mayhew, however, pushes this juxtaposition into her speech, heightening reality in order to fully convey his message. Despite being a young, uneducated girl, she is still reported as speaking thoughtfully and in depth, at one point even recalling her moment of abuse through the metaphor of “dancing down stairs” (65). For readers, this piece of dialogue is meant to capture their attention, her methodical way of composing her past again making her older than her years. No longer a child yet not quite a woman, she instead symbolizes a loss of childhood innocence within the bitter confines of lower society in