the upper class

general

1) supernatural presents the decline of the aristocracy

2) upper class as victims of invasion of middle class

3) despite financial freedom, women of the upper class are limited and constrained by the patriarchal society surrounding them

1. TLS: haunting of HH/ haunting of past

1. TLS:

   emphasises declining social position of the aristocracy in post war britain

1: “ancient paper was drooping from the walls”, “cracked steps”, “split at the seams”

• 1: TLS

• semantic field of disrepair

• creates unsettling gothic imagery which contrasts edwardian expectations of a country house

• perversion of the norm (brought abt by social change) creates an eerie/ unsettling atmosphere

1.TPDG: supernat portrait of dorian gray

• 1:TPDG

• visual representation of the destruction of his soul

• at odds w victorian morality, which prioritised family values, charity and sexual repression

1: “monstrous and loathsome”

1: TPDG

• allusion to mary shelly’s frankenstein’s monster

• emphasises visibly immoral and corrupted soul

1: “hysteria”, “shrieking”, “breaking glass”

1:TLS

• motif of madness in response to supernatural

• supernat as unsettlingly ambiguous and malevolent

• characters of rod, mrs ayres and betty, who are acutely aware of awaiting downfall

1: “examine the scene”, “questioned her”, “consider one explanation”

• 1:TLS

• semantic field of scientific investigation when exploring idea of supernat

• adopts position of scientific rationality

1: the “Phantasms of the Living” (1886), “The Night Side of Nature”(1850) and “The Dweller in the Temple”

1: TLS

• motif of gothic fiction to polarise ideas of supernat and rationality when dismissing c’s theories

• creates tension betweenpriority of modern science in post-war industrial Britain -characterised by Faraday- and the Victorian (1837-1901) fascination with the supernatural, which pervaded all forms of art and science, including the emerging genre of the Victorian gothic -characterised by Caroline

• successfully emphasises the vulnerability of the Edwardian upper class, and highlight their impending downfall, ultimately justifying their fear for the supernatural

1: “loathing”, “horrible”, “cruelty”, “look of pain”

1: APDG

• genre of the Victorian gothic, ultimately prioritising a fear for the supernatural over an exploration of scientific rationale

• in order to confront Dorian Gray’s conscience, and his immorality, which, accompanied by the allusions to his fate in hell, of “throbbing cores of flame”, foreshadow his downfall and death.

2. ‘“Oh!” she said anxiously. “No one’s unwell, I hope?”

• 2: TLS

• exclamatory lang

• emphasises intrusion of middle class + their lack of belonging

• Waters uses Dr Faraday as a symbol of intrusion of the middle class.

• The transition from the strict social class structure of Edwardian England, which was a prominent and important way to separate people, to the post-war period, where differences within and between the classes were smaller, was uncomfortable and unwelcomed by the Edwardian upper class.

• The Labour government’s decision to repeal the 1927 Trade Union Act in 1946 allowed those of lower classes to more effectively climb in social class, as they had better working conditions and pay, and enabled the blurring of class distinction, which was often not welcomed by the upper class.

2. “Flemish harpsichord” vs “crazy jazz”

• 2: TLS:

• emphasises the intrusion of the middle class through the use of juxtaposition and irony of the use of a “Flemish harpsichord”- an instrument most typically used by the upper class in the Renaissance movement, where balanced musical phrasing and harmonic intervals were used- to play “crazy jazz”, which is widely improvised and sometimes dissonant.

• The use of juxtaposition of the harpsichord and jazz emphasises how out of place, and incongruous the Baker-Hydes are to the setting, and shows the reader how the middle class were seen to be intruding to the upper class.

2. Basil as a symbol of middle class morality

2: TPDG:

• basil, an artist and member of the middle class, is an unwanted figure of morality within the book, questioning both LH and Dorian, intruding on their persuit of hedonism/ immorality

2. “I don’t believe that Harry, and I don’t believe you do either”

• 2. TPDG

• direct speech

• basil’s belief in innate goodness of man invades the persuit of LH’s im/amorality

2. “You are an extraordinary… simply a pose”

2:TPDG

• anaphora of you

• creates a critical and interrogative tone, which emphasises his deontological approach to morality

• influenced by his middle class position and need for work to survive: basil relies upon the upper class for money and thus must abide by their social convention and moral righteousness.

3: characterisation of LH

3:PDG

• critique the superficial and dismissive attitudes towards women common in Victorian England, which ultimately sheds light on the limitations imposed on their submissive roles in society.

3: no woman is a genius. Women are a decorative sex. They never have anything to say, but they say it charmingly. Women represent the triumph of matter over mind, just as men represent the triumph of mind over morals

3: TPDG

• motif of misogynistic views ultimately encapsulates societal attitudes towards women, acting as social commentary on the maltreatment of women in the victorian era, who were restricted to the domestic sphere, seen only as housewives and mothers

3: characterisation of caroline

• 3: TLS

• represents upper-class women caught between traditional expectations and the emerging new roles for women in post-war Britain

• her fears are rooted in the loss of social status and the struggle to find her place in a society that no longer values the aristocracy she was born into.

3: “long, thickish legs”, “flare of her hips and bosom”, “dry, demented locks”

3: TLS

• motif of c’s physical body + juxtaposition between c + mrs ayres symbolises shift in cultural and societal views of women in post war britain

• successfully critiquing patriarchal social norm of edwardian society

3: “the one charm of marriage is that it makes a life of deception absolutely necessary for both parties”

3: TPDG

• characterisation of lord henry as a contrarian

• criticises the law (prior to 1882), that once a woman was married, she basically ceased to exist

• criticised debauchery of upper class and neglect for their wives