Clothing and its Depiction of Racial and Social Stratification

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Clothing and its depiction of Racial and Social Stratification. A Taste of Honey by Shelagh Delaney is composed of dialogues, proficiently written to disguise social issues in Britain in the1950s. The conversations between the characters reveal their dynamic relationships and Delaney “dresses” each character uniquely based on their social identities and personalities: The “black” characters in the play had uniformed professions to boost their social status since uniforms are associated with “honorable” professions. Social identities based on class is best illustrated by Helen’s clothing, for example her possession of only one hat and her reaction to Jo’s request for new clothes (), however, the clothes for her wedding were new () suggest as change in class, which she could not previously afford (). Hence, the play skillfully relates clothing to racial stratification in Britain, where it was thought that “black” people were affiliated with the jungle () and social division based on wealth, which affected where they lived and level of sophistication they could afford. All the charact...

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