Florence Nightingale: A Critical Look at a Legend

Abstract

Florence Nightingale was a nineteenth-century woman who has been largely misunderstood by contemporary society.  Today, the name of Florence Nightingale conjures the image of the saintly lady of the lamp; a nurturing and compassionate woman who patiently cared for ailing and lonely soldiers. Although this image has substance, Florence Nightingale was passionate, driven, ambitious, and egocentric. In many ways, she fully realized her sister's accusation that she was more like a man of her time than any woman of her era.¹ She was, however, marked undoubtedly by the puritanical Victorian model of womanhood. Very much a product of her class and upbringing , she forged ahead, primarily striving to improve the plight of the soldier, but also the general welfare of the common person' sickbed.