The Floating Brothel By Jamie Reen

Sydney, Australia is a city built on of the most beautiful locations in the world. Even so, this wealthy and sophisticated place has a dark beginning. “The Floating Brothel” by Siân Reen is a work of prose non-fiction set in the 18th century which explores this part of the origins of Sydney, with the crew and “disorderly girls” of the convict ship The Lady Julian taking the spotlight of the novel. Moreover, the novel goes into detail of the events which occurred on the convict ship was well of world events vital to understanding these events, including the state of the Sydney colony and the crimes some of the female convicts committed. The information succeeds in providing us the events that unfold around The Lady Julian as well as the world

The Penal system is described in the novel as “…. An inadequate and crude instrument by which to regulate the countries affairs, even in the view of contemporaries” (Rees 38). Crimes which theoretically are considered capital offenses range from Burglary to Unlawful Shooting. Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as a list of crimes that are considered felonies. Stealing objects that hold a total value of 39 shillings was a felony. Despite this, theft can be deemed a felony under certain circumstances even if less than 39 shillings of are stolen. One example given in the novel is that “Housebreaking (breaking and entering was a double felony, whatever the value of goods taken”. Felonies are punishable by death, fortunately, Judges usually did not follow this. When a woman is charged with a double felony then the judges will convict them of only one felony and sentence them to transportation rather than sending them to death for mere theft. Transportation was always given because of the serve limitations on sentencing. Overall, the penal system of England described in the early chapters of the novel is flawed system with convicts living in poor conditions in addition. The idea of how terrible the penal system and Gaol living conditions are is rereinforced by the negative reception and reactions of people and groups

These two sentences give the reader the idea of how women will be treated during the course of the novel, a topic which, unlike the English penal system, is present throughout the whole novel. The overall treatment of women in the novel is poor in comparison to how females are treated into society in modern times. However, the treatment of women is the novel is certainly worse than how the 18th century society of the novel’s setting treats women under normal circumstances. Despite this, one can infer that parts of society in the 18th century were not exactly the most morally strong, at least compared to modern day morals. One can argue that the women of the Lady Julian are treated as if they are objects, with marriage on the seamen, the brothel in Santa Cruz, and the actual purpose and role of the women in the Sydney colony all supporting the argument that the women in the novel are treated in a undesirable