Conclusion

Abstract

The stories of all historical figures are products of their times. They are then re-told and re-presented by successive generations, being constantly adapted to new conditions. And when the stories are no longer deemed relevant, they are forgotten. For all of the cries that Cavell would be remembered forever, by the end of the twentieth century her memory had largely disappeared in both the metropolitan and colonial areas that had belonged at the time of her death to either the Allied world, the British world, or both. This book has shown that versions of who Cavell was and what she represented changed as the century progressed, with narratives of her often recast from earlier versions of events. Importantly, stories of her life were shaped in relation to her untimely death and initially constructed to fit the propaganda descriptions of a young, innocent, virgin martyr.