An Unprotected Female at the Pyramids

An Unprotected Female at the Pyramids

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An Unprotected Female at the Pyramids by Anthony Trollope

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1864

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An Unprotected Female at the Pyramids

By

4
(2 Reviews)

Book Excerpt

resort for invalids, or rather for those who fear that they may become invalids if they remain in a cold climate during the winter months. And thus at Cairo there is always to be found a considerable population of French, Americans, and of English. Oriental life is brought home to us, dreadfully diluted by western customs, and the delights of the "Arabian Nights" are shorn of half their value. When we have seen a thing it is never so magnificent to us as when it was half unknown.

It is not much that we deign to learn from these Orientals,--we who glory in our civilisation. We do not copy their silence or their abstemiousness, nor that invariable mindfulness of his own personal dignity which always adheres to a Turk or to an Arab. We chatter as much at Cairo as elsewhere, and eat as much and drink as much, and dress ourselves generally in the same old ugly costume. But we do usually take upon ourselves to wear red caps, and we do ride on donkeys.

Nor are the visitors from the West to Cairo by any

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This entertaining short story of 31 pages in print or 431 locations on a Kindle tells the story of Miss Dawkins, who is travelling throught Egypt. She is the 'unprotected female' from the title because she is travelling on her own. She is not not alone most of the time, she joins other travellers. In this story she joins a British family, Mr. and Mrs. Damer and their three children, the Frenchman Mr. Delabordeau and the American Mr. Jefferson Ingram. As they travel along the reader starts to wonder whether the unprotected female needs protecting or whether her fellow travellers need to be protected from her.

This story has some hilarious scenes that everyone who has ever travelled to exotic destinations will recognise: the haggling over prizes, the tips, the uncomfortable journeys and the fellow-travellers who really should have stayed at home, where they have all the comforts they so long for during this trip. This is an entertaining story that can be read well within an hour. I did enjoy reading it. The character of Mrs. Dawkins is interesting and, as I have already said, there are some really funny bits in it.

Anthony Trollope (1815-1882) was one of the most important writers of Great Brittain in the Victorian Age. This story was first published in Cassell's Illustrated Family Paper on the 6th of October 1860. This Kindle version is the 1864 Chapman & Hall "Tales of all Countries" edition.
An amusing short story by Anthony Trollope about a woman traveling alone in Egypt. Although she has no male companion to protect her, it's really the males of the families she latches onto in her travels that are the ones who need protecting.