The novels Persuasion and House of Mirth shared many common themes. Both families in each novel had challenges that they had to face. These challenges were mainly within their social class. No matter when in time or where in place, somehow you are left with thinking whether or not you are good enough for someone or if someone is good enough for you based on where your ranked on the social class ladder. Both novels share a way of identifying people by their wealth. Both of which result in negative and positive outcomes for the main characters in both novels. I believe a significant theme that is shared in both novels is social class.
Social class is a relevant theme in both novels in many ways. With Marriage being the only option in both novels for women in upper class, it makes it difficult for the main characters to figure out which is more important in living a more suitable lifestyle for them, and also an
…show more content…
The upper middle class focuses most of their time on how to become more important. Anne Elliot is the main character. Anne’s family is of minor nobility. Her father, Sir Walter Elliot, and older sister, Elizabeth Elliot are conceited people only caring about looks and high social rank. Anne had fallen in love with Fredrick Wentworth when she was very young. He was in the navy while at the time ranking in lower social class since he didn’t really make a lot of money. Anne’s father, being the conceited man he is, and Lady Russell, disapproved Anne marrying Frederick Wentworth and found him unworthy because he was not ranked high in social class and had no title. He felt as if he would put a bad reputation on their family’s social class rank and preferred her to be with a more wealthy man to fit more into their high social class standards. This is what persuaded Anne into breaking off the engagement with
Both stories were written in different years, but both are written about women in the same era. When women went against the norm during the era the stories were written in they were often looked down on. Especially, Emily, who never married and because she was never married she was constantly judged by the women and men in her city. During that time, it was odd for women not to be married. Emily eventually found someone, but it was known that he was a homosexual.
The time and way people are brought up in society makes a huge difference on how they will climb up the social scale in life. In the classic novel House of Mirth, by Edith Wharton and Call it Sleep, by Henry Roth the main characters experience totally different upbringings into society. While Lily Bart is brought up into a high class society, David is born into an immigrant family in a part of the city, which has similar people as his own country. The two characters in the novels both have different and some similar views on how to climb up on the social scale. Although they would give different advice to each other on how to climb the social scale, and have different views on life, one thing that would be common would be to have money.
Both Hosseini and Hinton, although writing about very different scenarios, characterize the same theme in each of their novels - class separations harm all people. Learning from their work, we can aim to break down these barriers between social classes and bridge the gap between our separated societies.
Clearly social class plays a big role in the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, because all of the three marriages that Janie had were based on money. Then later the marriages had dramatic problems based on the amount of money they had. In Janie’s first two marriages, she didn’t love her husband but only used them to sustain her financially while she didn’t have to work. Her last marriage was the exception because Tea Cake would use her to fuel his gambling problem. If social class was taken out of this novel there would no longer be a plot, and the plot would have to be replaced by something
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.
...ndicates a level of justification each felt in their actions. These actions, immortalized in two of the most widely read classics of all time, even today call into question the values each society held so dear, and led the modern reader to explore what honor and traditional gendered values mean both in these societies and our own.
As the middle class began to further divide, those who grew in wealth became known as a banking/industrial class. Along with their sudden economic prosperity there came a desire for social transformation- an aspiration for new aristocracy. They carried their traditional middle class values into prominence with their accumulation of wealth. They sought to achieve a merit oriented Society rather than social climbing, for their children's sake, into the existing one based solely on birth. This hindered the new class from ever attaining Aristocratic Social acceptance for their new wealth and deemed them the nouveaux riche. Despite obvious disapproval from the Aristocracy the nouveaux riche continued their economic ascent through "personal contact [which] was a crucial element in filling posts" (Loftus 5). This dependence upon others for mounting economic standing was contrary to the middle class value of independence. This industrial class was forced to rely upon the connections, potentially aristocratic, in order to succeed. Loftus explains that middle-class values were carved out in these attempts to define a society based on merit rather than aristocratic privilege. However, the importance of cultural capital and social networks to success in the period implies that the rise of the middle-classes in the Victorian period saw the replacement of one set of privileges with another (Loftus 4). However the Nouveaux Riche failed to fully assimilate into aristocratic society due to lack of pedigree.
First of all, emphasis is placed on the daily struggles endured on a daily basis by the middle-class. Much like George and Lennie, they worry about having enough money to survive, for shelter and for clothing. Also, there seems to be the fear of loneliness that seems to surface throughout the novel. Despite the on going quarrels between George and Lennie, the two men are afraid of being alone on their own. In addition, it seems the two main characters find themselves in positions that are beyond their control. These are the conflicts one finds in this novel.
...hetypes of these primary characters, both of these novels make a parallel statement on feminism. The expectations of both themselves and society greatly determine the way that these women function in their families and in other relationships. Looking at the time periods in which these novels were written and take place, it is clear that these gender roles greatly influence whether a female character displays independence or dependence. From a contemporary viewpoint, readers can see how these women either fit or push the boundaries of these expected gender roles.
In the beginning of both of the pieces of literature, the main character(s) have not had the experience that will shape their values yet. Rather, as time moves forward in the stories, the
All throughout the movie social class is a problem. Social class is the division of classes based on social, economic, and achieved status. All of the events on the ship are broken down based on which social class each person falls under. The upper class were those who were on a luxury trip, and
Marriage is the main subject in the novel, as well as for people of this period. The maybe most
The lower class have a more relaxed and unprofessional way of talking. For example, they would say “Who d’ye live with -- supposin’ you’re kindly let to live, which I han’t made up my mind about?” It is mostly improper dialogue. The upper class have a more posh and proper way of talking because they are most likely to afford to go to school and be educated well. This really gives the audience an idea of what social class each character is and helps make a part of the movie stand out with that detail.
In order to analyze Austen’s treatment of class system in Persuasion, the novel can be split into two somewhat contradictory halves. Austen spends much of the first half of the novel attempting to convince the audience of the importance of a system of manners, upon...
Class distinction is one of Jane Austen’s themes in the novel, and the differentiation related to it is evidently depicted. Reading the novel from the first chapter, I realize that the author clearly illustrates that class is what matters most in many of the incidences displayed by the characters. Unless an individual is of a given class, the idea that he or she has money is not valued, since only birth in a certain background is what is of value. When a person openly values money over class, such a person is frowned upon. In general terms, the Novel shows a social world extremely stratified and full of pretension and class struggle.