The Vergil Strike: Latin in the novels of Jean Webster, Part I

via Wikimedia Commons

Update: the article that led me to Webster's novel is "Girls Reading Vergil: Stories of Latin and Progressive Education," by Rob Hardy (New England Classical Journal 33.2 2006 122-133).

The other day I saw that someone had written an article about the novel Just Patty by Jean Webster, focusing on the Latin classes the characters have to take. (The novel is set at a turn of the twentieth century boarding school, St. Ursula's.)

Extremely spaced out from being on vacation with a baby, I did not save the reference to the article. I did download the novel to my Kindle (it was free). So far I have read Just Patty, its sequel (although published earlier) When Patty Went to College, and part of Webster's best known work, Daddy-Long-Legs. 


Latin is a continuous theme in the novel thanks to Miss Lord, the strict yet intriguing Latin instructor. Although 'Lordy' is a harsh taskmistress for most of the book, by the end she saves Patty and two of her classmates from expulsion. The three girls formed a secret society devoted to enhancing their feminine charms:

"We're going to become sirens," Mae whispered impressively. "We're going to be beautiful and fascinating and ruthless -"
"Like Cleopatra," said Rosalie.
"And avenge ourselves on Man," added Mae.
[....]
"My heart hasn't been broken."
"Not yet," said Mae with a touch of impatience, "because you don't know any men, but you will know them some day, and then your heart will be broken. You ought to have your weapons ready." (204-205 of the 1911 ed.) 

Miss Lord discovers the secret society because of the SAS bracelets the girls wear (for "Society of Associated Sirens"). Patty convinces her the letters stand for "Smiles and Sunshine," and agrees to make her an honorary member. When an SAS member is nearly expelled for flirting, 'Lordy' explains to the headmistress that she herself is a member of this entirely innocent club.

Patty's Latin classes dominate chapter 3, titled "The Vergil Strike," which Hardy discusses extensively in his article. Miss Lord is also an advocate of worker's rights and the new field of sociology. After listening to a lecturer Miss Lord herself brought to campus, Patty decides to help a struggling classmate by striking for 60 line of Vergil per day instead of 80. After a negotiation mediated by the headmistress, Mrs. Trent, Miss Lord and her class eventually settle on assignments of 70 lines per day. Pin It