The Double Lives of Servants: A Comparison and Contrast Between the Representation of Servants in Virginia Woolf's "Between the Acts" and Jamaica Kincaid's "Lucy"

In her novel Between the Acts, Virginia Wolf explores the dichotomy that arises when two entirely separate social classes live under one roof together. Likewise, Jamaica Kincaid gives an intimate portrayal of a young au pair working in a wealthy, white household. Though the two authors differ greatly in the use of servants in their novels, many of their ideas about servants' roles in society are similar. Even though the servants in Woolf's novel are, …

…masters, and the worlds which are uniquely their own. These worlds come alive when Woolf and Kincaid show the servants trying to balance them and transcend through the barriers that each world holds. When Woolf and Kincaid show that Mrs. Sands is also Trixie, and that "the girl who takes care of the children" is also Lucy, the reader is introduced to the complicated lives of the servants. Work Cited Irma Marx. "Gandhara School". (14 December 2000).