pirates
, a maid serving the Swann family.

Estrella, a maid serving the Swann family.

"You have a name, missy?"
"Elizabeth...Turner. I'm a maid in the governor's household."
―Hector Barbossa and Elizabeth Swann[src]

A maid, housemaid, or chambermaid was a female domestic worker. The word "maid" itself meant an unmarried woman, especially a young one, or specifically a virgin. These meanings lived on in English, alongside the sense of the word as a type of servant.

Domestic service was the second-largest category of employment in England and Wales, after agricultural work, typically found in the wealthiest households. Maids were part of an elaborate hierarchy in great houses, where the retinue of servants stretched up to the housekeeper and butler, responsible for female and male employees respectively. Domestic workers, particularly those low in the hierarchy, such as maids and footmen, were expected to remain unmarried while in service. Maids perform typical domestic chores such as laundry, cleaning the house, cooking, and taking care of children and household pets. Many maids were required by their employers to wear a uniform.

History

"Lady Devonshire of Hanover Hall requires a housemaid. Lord Willoughby has met Her Ladyship and seemed to think that the placement would be keenly suited to you."
―Mrs. Altwood to Carina Smyth[src]

At some point prior to the James Norrington's promotion ceremony, Estrella began working as a maid for Governor Weatherby Swann and his daughter Elizabeth in the grand mansion in Port Royal. During the attack on Port Royal, when Elizabeth was taken captive by Hector Barbossa's crew, the governor's daughter lied to the pirates and said she was a maid in the governor's household.[1] Carina Smyth worked as a housemaid at Hanover Hall for several years before the search for the Trident of Poseidon.[2]

Behind the scenes

Maids first appeared in the 2003 film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.[1] The terms "housemaid" and "chambermaid" were introduced in A. C. Crispin's 2011 novel The Price of Freedom.[3][4]

Appearances

External links

Notes and references

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
  2. ↑ The Brightest Star in the North: The Adventures of Carina Smyth, p. 75
  3. ↑ The Price of Freedom, Chapter Four: Cutler Beckett
  4. ↑ The Price of Freedom, Chapter Three: Doña Pirata