In the film, Kind Hearts and Coronets, Britain is represented rather well. This is due to the film being surrounded by contrasts of social class and ideas of social class and ideologies. It also shows of the views of the nation at the time and the conception of the way Britain was. Brief Encounter executes the representation of Britain fairly well throughout the course of the film. This is done by using techniques, mainly due to characterisation though this has its own off branching parts to why it is a representation of Britain. These include attitudes of the characters and also the national views that are perceived through the characters in the film. Louis, is the main character who starts off poor and deciding to take action to ensure himself greater wealth and level of class. This begins before he is even born as his mother is cut of her family ties after marrying someone of lower class. This is important to Britain at the time as the class system was seen as incredibly high importance. People of higher class conceived themselves as better than everyone else and therefore would not marry beneath them. This represents Britain effectively at the time. This meant that the family wanted nothing to do with them and rejected all knowledge of their existence this enraged Louis as he was held back during his life as a …show more content…
It discusses views on family and how social class can be important within family as at that time it was believed that marriage would increase your social class. People would not marry someone who was too much lower than them on the social class scale. Louis’s mother and father being excluded from the family would not have been as surprising in the 1940’s as it would today. This occurred all the time due to wealthy and high class families wanting to become richer and classier and would not want their family marrying beneath
Louis is a working man who is not necessarily a physical specimen and is getting ready to settle down. Problem is he has not found any one to love. Miss Rollings, on the other hand, is a very wealthy, attractive but aging woman. She doesn’t know it in the beginning of the movie but she is not content as being the lazy women she is. She also is looking for love. Even though these characters are very different at first glance, they have one common interest, which is loneliness. Miss Rollings does not realize that she is lonely until she sees Louis’ performance. Louis’ and Miss Rollings’ search for fulfillment all comes together at the end of the movie for a nice typical American ending, happily ever after.
This single short quote from the first section of Lillian Smith’s Killers of the Dream is a perfect summation of the changing world many Southerners were facing as they approached the 20th Century. Gone were the days of plantation homes, housewives overseeing 50 black slaves, and many of the ideals that this lifestyle carried with it. As the Civil War ended and Reconstruction worked its way through the South, much was uprooted. This change was hard for this “landed aristocracy.” However, it was equally hard on the children.
In Charles Chesnutt’s story “The Wife of His Youth,” it illustrates the reality of what individuals of mixed races had to go through in order to fit in with society. From the beginning readers are presented with troubles African American’s had to face through racial division and inequality, along with a correlation between race and color. The main character in this story, Mr. Ryder, is a great representation of how a society can influence one’s beliefs and morals. In order to become apart of the Blue Vein society, Mr. Ryder had to leave his ethnic background behind him, so he could be accepted into a white community. The purpose of the Blue Vein Society, as Chesnutt described it, "was to establish and maintain correct social standards among
Another factor in the storyline is society's attitude to class differences. Higher classed people were never allowed to socialise with people below their class. For example, Alice who is a young girl born to a rich high-classed family queries why she cannot marry Thomas, a lower classed boy. This is answered by "'Cos he's not a gentleman." Higher classed people were not permitted to marry out of their class. If they did it would be considered shameful and parents would often disown their children. Another example is, "Never was he more ashamed than when he saw their eyes scan his heavy jacket and breeches, his hob-nailed boots and cotton shirt and these were his best clothes" this is when Thomas visits Alexander's house. Alexander is much higher classed. It shows how he feels to be in the company of those higher classed.
Upper and middle-class women in that era mostly had a role as their husband’s ornament, the angel of the house. With the emergence of middle-class society due to the Industrial Revolution, many new rich men wanted to show off their valuable "treasure"; a wife that is passive, obedient, beautiful, submissive, pious, and pure. This beautiful-to-be-looked role of a wife is similar to that of wallpaper. In a patriarchal society, relationship between a husband and a wife was similar to a relationship between a parent and a child. A parent had a right to say things and a child had an obligation to listen and to do what the parent said. A child was not supposed to disagree. The child must submit him or herself to the parent. It made the child dependent on the parent. It can be seen clearly that the husband treated his wife as a child. He called her his “blessed little goose”), and “little girl.” When the narrator tried to tell him what she thought was good for her, but not appropriate to the husband’s opinion, the husband used sweet words to force his idea toward the wife. “My darling,” said he, “I beg of you, for my sake and for our child’s sake, as well as for your own, and that you will never for one instant let that idea enter your mind! … Can you not trust me as a physician when I tell you so?” The myth of the natural inferiority of women greatly influenced the status of women in law. Under the common law of England, an unmarried woman could own property, make a contract, or sue and be sued. But a married woman, defined as being one with her husband, gave up her name, and virtually all her property came under her husband's control.
During the 1800s, the aristocracy of England and France lived in luxury and possessed an enormous amount of power in the society while peasants live in poverty. Dickens links the two countries with the theme of how history repeats itself. Dickens compares the social rankings, rulers, and events of the two countries and warns how if the English aristocracy did not change their ways, what happens in France would happen to them. In the novel, Dickens portrays the character, Monseigneur as an individual character as well as a social class of France. Monseigneur is a character who Dickens portrays as the entire class of the French aristocracy in the way of which he abuses his power. Dickens describes how the Monseigneur was having chocolate prepared for him by four men who are wearing gold watches as peasants were starving and dying. Dickens uses the actions of the Monseigneur to represent the entire population of the aristocrats in the city of St. Antoine. Another way in which Dickens shows how the Monseigneur was corrupt was how he appointed people to be officials not by their skill but by the way they would appraise him or by their status. Dickens foreshadows how France would become corrupt over time from the action...
Wealth and power, two of the most influential means to govern over those who have none. In the novel, A Tale of Two Cities, A man that goes by the honorary title, Monseigneur, is depicted in such a manner that it would be a great shame to his family to employ less than three servants to prepare his morning hot chocolate. That is one of many examples of how the wealthy live while thousands of mothers and children are dying from starvation on the streets, and men serve severe prison sentences because they commit a petty crimes such as stealing a loaf of bread to feed their starving family while a wealthy man finds it necessary to employ four men to make hot chocolate. The difference in life between those who had money and those who didn’t were drastically different; the rich thought everything in life was paid for, and this is what leads to the revolution. Go backwards in time to a moment that caused a depression in the history of France that future societies will look back on as to not allow fathom and poverty of this caliber to strike again.
The book raises issues about the role of women in society, not only in the time period in which it is set, but also in the modern world. Edna was truly brave in the way that she slowly began to defy society's conventions. She was never unfaithful to her husband because he had betrayed her by seeing her as an object. This contributed to her yearning for truth and freedom. Her husband was a well-meaning man, but Edna had no real trust in him. She felt empty with him and their children. Once Leonce was gone and Edna had been with Robert, she felt like she had found true and passionate love, but she had not. Robert was like Leonce. Robert speaks of her being "set free and given to her" and she realizes that Robert also viewed women as possessions. This was a trouble that she could not get away from. Robert loved her, but the way that he thought was still being controlled by the society and time that they lived in. Edna realizes that her loving and lusty relationship with Robert would still be repressed by the society that they were
Charles Dickens writes this book explaining the French Revolution, in which the social and economic systems in France had huge changes and the French monarchy collapsed. This causes high taxes, unfair laws, and the poor being mistreated. Charles Dickens shows that cruelty of other people will lead to a revolution and in addition to the revolution more cruelty will occur. He explores the idea of justice and violence through the use of ambiguous characters with positive and negative qualities, meaning that they have to different sides to them; for example, Charles Darnay, Sydney Carton, and Dr. Manette. Throughout the story of A Tale of Two Cities, Charles dickens uses ambiguous characters to shows how violence and cruelty can be stopped through the power of true sacrifice.
The French Revolution, which occurred in the late 1700’s was a period in history marked by violence and cruelty among classes. In the novel, A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens powerfully depicts the cruelty of French society during this time of struggle. Throughout the novel, Dickens illustrates the theme of cruelty and inhumanity of men to their fellow countryman in France. This theme grows with each chapter and each brutal event in the novel. Dickens effectively develops the theme of man’s inhumanity toward his fellow man in A Tale of Two Cities by showing various acts of cruelty including, the horrific murder of Old Foulon by the villagers, the extremes that the Revolutionaries take in killing innocent nobles, and the noble Evrémonde family’s careless and harmful treatment of a peasant family.
It talks about what is referred to as the problem that has no name. This problem is the fact that women are not happy with the way their lives have been formatted for them by social standards. Despite the fact that women had recently received power, they are still being pushed into shadows of these liberties. Women began to feel that it was their duty to act more feminine and take on the roles of a housewife. They became focused on birthing and raising children, looking attractive for their husbands, and taking care of the cooking, cleaning, and any other house chores. Women did not do these things because they felt satisfaction doing it. The Feminist Mystique revealed the truth behind the housewives. These women told the truth about their feelings towards their lives because they were not being given an identity in the journal. The fear of being seen as an outlier by everyone was what kept these women from disregarding their new home duties. During the Cold War, these women could be seen as unpatriotic and not loyal for refusing to follow the norm. However, under the cover of anonymity, these women revealed the truth behind their lives. They were unhappy because of the lifestyles they had to lead. Regardless of how many material advantages their husbands had for them, most women agreed that their lives were depressing and unsatisfying. Women married to poor men were just as unhappy as those married to rich
One of the largest, and most crippling events of the 1930s was the Great Depression. Preceded by a decade of wealth and a carefree attitude, the crash of the economy came as a shock to everyone involved. In the article, “Standards Focus: Historical Context, The Great Depression”, the author points out that “People’s life savings suddenly disappeared, and as a result, people could not afford to pay their house payments or buy food, clothing, or other necessities.” (Secondary Solutions). This shows how helpless families were, and that it was impossible to stand up to corrupt ideas. This idea of poverty are also used by Harper Lee when she describes that the Cunninghams are a family in terrible conditions. In school, Scout tries to defend Walter Cunningham, a son in the Cunningham family, and explains that “Walter Cunningham was sitting there lying his head off. He didn’t forget his lunch, he didn’t have any. He had none today nor would he have any tomorrow or the next day. He had probably never seen three quarters together at the same time in his life.” (Lee 26). The Cunningham family is a dramatic example of the daily struggle of everyone in town to live a decent life. Harper Lee used this idea in her writing because it shows the everyday person had little to no influence on events that were occurring in Americ...
First, “Mrs. Charles Bliss” was ready for a divorce. She was ready to leave her husband and he was ready to leave her. Reverend Wiley advised her not to for the sake of the children. And Judge Somers told her husband not to go through with it. So they stuck it out even though they hated each other. Two of the children sided with the husband and blamed her for it. The other two sided with her and blamed him for it. This family had to live life hating each other and pointing fingers. To the average person walking down the street, passing by their house might seem normal or even peaceful. But inside the locked doors life wasn't so great. People would have no idea what is going on in there.
The men treated their women as if they were an object. After marriage the husbands had full control over any finances or property that the women had once owned. Women didn’t have to many rights if any and were expected to stay at home and be the stereotypical house wife doing the daily house duties, looking after the children and making the meal. Even if women didn’t like it it was almost as if they were forced to be the stay at home mother. Mathilde Loisel suffering from this middle class life style just wanted to live a glamorous and luxuries life. “She would so much have liked to please, to be envied, to be charming, to be seductive and sought after."(Maupassant 1). Loisel felt trapped in this life of almost poverty and just wants to escape. She wants to live this glamorous life of having things done for her and being able to have the luxuries that the upper class have and is clearly jealous of her wealthy friend Mme. Frostier and would like to be in her shoes. But at the end of the day she is confined in this middle class lifestyle and can only wish for a better
Jane Austen is very clear in her writing about class distinction and she uses the novel to look beyond the widely stratified community divided by social classes experienced in the 18th century in England. This distinction shows that class snootiness is simply but an illusion rather than a real obstruction to marriage, given that Elizabeth, though socially inferior to Darcy, she is not in any way academically inferior to him. In this sense, Darcy realizes that his class pretentiousness is mislaid toward Elizabeth, since she also finds out that her prejudice towards Darcy’s snobbish and superior manner is misplaced when he rescues Elizabeth’s family from a scandal and disgrace. In this context, the writer uses Darcy and Elizabeth to show that class distinction does not guarantee one’s happiness in life, neither does it allow him or her to own every good thing desired. For instance, Darcy is brought out as a haughty character, who initially fails to think that Elizabeth is worth him for she originates from an unrecognized family; a middle class girl not so beautiful enough to suit him. However, as the...