WITH HER FACE TO THE WALL: The Housemaid with Valerie Krips

The housemaid was the person who made the house comfortable for its inhabitants.  Yet of all the servants, she was the least thought of.  If she was seen in the day by any of those for whom she worked, she had to turn her face to the wall.  Who was she and what was it, exactly, that she did?

Dr Valerie Krips is Associate Professor Emerita Department of English University of Pittsburgh and Honorary Fellow School of Culture & Communication University of Melbourne.