Do you agree with the view that Mary Seacole , and not Florence Nightingale , was the real ‘angle of mercy’ during the Crimean War?
During the Crimean war, both Mary Seacole and Florence Nightingale showed aspects of being angels. The word ‘angel’ suggests a heavenly person who is attentive to the soldiers’ needs, and ‘mercy’ means showing kindness and forgiveness, and the ‘angel of mercy’ basically suggests a compassionated and kind-hearted person who empathizes and helps soldiers in need. Although Nightingale had showed the aspects of being an “angel of mercy”, the amount of work and commitment Seacole had put in outweighs Nightingale’s; therefore I believe Mary Seacole deserves the title of the real “angel of mercy”.
Florence …show more content…

In source v, it also tells how Seacole was “in the very front line” treating the wounded, which was truly a heroic act because during that time females were seen weak and delicate, let alone belong on the battlefield, but “she showed courage under fire”, “unlike some officers” and risked her own life to save others. This also links to the idea of ‘angel’ because like a guardian angel she was protecting them, and she may also have appeared physically like an angel to some of the soldiers as she drifted through the battlefields healing people. This shows the bravery and effort of Seacole puts in helping the soldiers, and the fact that she treated the wounded at the scene might have contributed with the drop of death-rate. Her “British Hotel” was also an important refuge to the soldiers, which again comes to the idea ‘mercy’, as it says in source V that the soldiers felt more at ease with “Mother Seacole” than in the hospital, because the hotel was more homelike. Unlike Nightingale, briefly checking the patient and ordering the nurses, Seacole was more socializing and hands on approach to the individuals, therefore she was closer with the soldiers since she ran the hotel by herself and did everything by herself, on the other hand Nightingale did very little nursing and more works on the running and organizing of the