29^th May

I have been thinking about  the chatlelaine -  a housekeepers chain worn on the belt that carries a variety of objects such as small scissors, keys, an aid memoir notebook, a coin purse, etc. Can the chatlelaine be extended as a metaphor? I suppose that it has become the contemporary handbag in function – the portable identifier for the woman. A mother’s bag containing a purse, Tampax, lipstick perhaps, a mobile phone – but also baby wipes; children’s snacks in a Tupperwear; a rattle. Indeed the phone itself becomes that chatelaine – the smart phone containing all the devises for daily function – the aide memoir notebook, the small map, the spending App. But how is chatelaine a stand in for the identity of the wearer? The chatelaine was a ‘badge of office’ not only the actual keys to the house, but the signification of authority in the household; the ‘purse strings’? Is it a synecdoche – a figure of speech to mean housekeeper and household? What would my chatelaine be?