The scene that Mary Seacole describes at Chagres is brief but compelling. She states that she had "never seen a more luckless, dreary spot" (18). The climate of the area was extremely damp and putrid, causing most of the inhabitants of Navy Bay to be under constat seige from viruses and other sicknesses. Seacole only spent a single night in Chagres, and yet her expertise and medical supplies were used on the men in hopes of treating them. She noted that nothing in her medicine chest could help these men; what they needed was warmth, nourishment, and fresh air.

Flannery O'Connor lived and worked at Andalusia, her mother's farm, from 1951 until her death in 1964 at the age of 39. She wrote most of her best-known work at Andalusia, including "The Displaced Person," which is set on a farm much like Andalusia, complete with a pride of peacocks. The house is now a museum dedicated to O'Connor and maintained by her Alma Mater, Georgia State University.

France experienced multiple revolts and political changes during the Victorian Era unlike the more politically stable Britain.  Louis-Philippe d'Orleans rules from 1830-1848 until there was a revolt in Paris.  This revolt causes the King to flee and France to become a Republic for only 3 years, but influences other revolts in surrounding countries such as Hungary and Austria.(Collingham)  This revolt has been leading up to this point from political and worker unrest in the 1840's (which is spread across Europe at this time), due to multiple factors: Woman's rights, the repeal