Quote:
Originally Posted by Uncle Robin
The real kicker came courtesy of a review at Goodreads, which commented on the female lead's assertion on her appearance in the story that she had an honours degree from Girton. Quite a neat trick since the story is set more than 50 years before Girton awarded any. That's just lazy!  |
The reviewer at Goodreads is wrong. Cambridge refer to their BA(Hons) degrees as Tripos and the first women to unofficially take (and pass) Tripos Exams was in 1873. The university's own history pages describe the establishment of "two Colleges for women students (Girton in 1869 and Newnham in 1872). From the first, these Colleges aimed to prepare their students for the Tripos, and the first women were in fact examined in 1882."
I can see why a graduate/author would say honours degree rather than Tripos as that would require a lot of explanation of the academic system used at Cambridge.
And just for extra interest:
Quote:
|
In 1887 Agnata Ramsay, aged twenty, became a national celebrity. A student at Girton College, she had taken the Classical Tripos at Cambridge and was the only candidate to be placed in the top division of the First Class (“Firsts” were then sub-divided, as “Seconds” still are). That meant that she had done better in the exams than anyone else, woman or man.
|
TLS article by Mary Beard about women classical scholars