Sarah or Sairey Gamp, Mrs. Gamp as she is more commonly known, is a nurse in the novel ''

Martin Chuzzlewit ''The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit'' (commonly known as ''Martin Chuzzlewit'') is a novel by English author Charles Dickens, considered the last of his picaresque novels. It was originally serialised between January 1843 and July 1 ...

'' by

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

, first published as a serial in 1843–1844. Mrs. Gamp is dissolute, sloppy and generally drunk. In her long, rambling speeches, she refers constantly to her friend Mrs. Harris as support for her questionable practices. It becomes clear, however, that no such person exists other than as a figment of her imagination. She became a notorious

stereotype In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalization, generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can ...

of untrained and incompetent nurses of the early

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

, before the reforms of campaigners like

Florence Nightingale Florence Nightingale (; 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English Reform movement, social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during th ...

. The caricature was popular with the British public. A type of umbrella became known as a ''gamp'' because Mrs. Gamp always carries one, which she displays with "particular ostentation". The character was based upon a real nurse described to Dickens by his friend, Angela Burdett-Coutts.

Adaptions and other works

In an 1844 stage version of ''Martin Chuzzlewit'' authorised by Dickens at the Queen's Theatre Sarah Gamp was played by the actor and comedian Thomas Manders. Mrs. Gamp appears in '' Dickensian'', at first nursing Little Nell at the Old Curiosity Shop and later tending to Silas Wegg (from '' Our Mutual Friend''), played by Pauline Collins. Nobel laureate

William Faulkner William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer. He is best known for William Faulkner bibliography, his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi, a stand-in fo ...

considered Gamp among his favourite characters in popular literature.Quotes of Note – Posted on August 16, 2013
/ref>

References

External links

Fictional nurses Charles Dickens characters Literary characters introduced in 1843 Female characters in literature {{novel-char-stub