Literary analysis: social class in She Stoops to Conquer, by Oliver Goldsmith
Title: “It is not so much the difference between classes which is explored, but rather the extremely different ways in which certain characters treat people according to which class they belong to is explore.” With this in mind, consider Goldsmith’s treatment of social class in She stoops to Conquer.
Set in the Restoration period in the 17th and 18th century England, Oliver Goldsmith employs much wit, craft and style in She stoops to Conquer, in which one mistake feeds on another, and ultimately accumulating in a play of farce. It shows to a great extent that social snobbery or double standards in treatment which is portrayed in the novel, is only shown by certain characters. She stoops to Conquer is after all, a novel of sentimental comedy and also a comedy of manners, which features treatment of social class as one of the main themes. However, not all of the characters play a part in the discrimination or standards of social class.
The two characters, Mrs Hardcastle and Mr Marlow can be seen as avid participants of social class and are the most class-conscious in the entire novel as compared to the other characters. Other characters can be excluded from this allegation because their intentions and even their behaviour is not based on social class aims or even social snobbery.
Goldsmith’s treatment of social class in She Stoops to Conquer is not the typical exploration of social snobbery or a explicit discrimination or mistreatment of the lower class by the upper class. Goldsmith merely plays on the difference in treatment or rather the double standards when it comes to treating people of lower status. However, Goldsmith does shows that it is the perfect norm for people of the upper class to treat the lower class in a certain way and it is also being accepted by the lower class themselves. This is shown from the way Marlow and Hastings talk about the barmaids that Marlow flirts with back in his hometown.
The Essay on The Service Class Social Power Working
The service class as defined by the Oxford Dictionary of Sociology (Gordon Marshall, 1998) is; A term first used by the Austro-Marxist Karl Renner to describe employees in Government (Civil Servants), private economic service (Business administrators, managers, technical experts), and social services (distributors of welfare. Subsequently adopted by the by the British sociologist John H ...
Due to the fact that She stoops to conquer is meant to be a comedy, Goldsmith does not portray the social class discrimination to be awkward for the audience but shown in a more comical light so that dramatic tension is reduced for the audience. This is seen in his portrayal of Marlow who is already classified as a man of good caliber by Mr Hardcastle in Act 1, Scene 1 during his talk with kate Hardcastle. The fact that Marlow is supposedly a good man allows the audience to forgive his behaviour and accept his flaws. Hence, the way that Goldsmith portrays evidence is not offensive to the audience and thus can fulfil the expectations of it of a comedy of manners.
As mentioned earlier, Mrs Hardcastle and Mr Marlow can be seen as the two main characters who are class-conscious. Firstly, Mrs Hardcastle is already seen as a vain, superficial women in Act1, scene 1 when she complains to Mr Hardcastle about never going to town. She portrays herself to be modern and certainly more fashionable than her ‘old fashioned’ husband. However, it is obvious that Mrs Hardcastle is still the ‘old fashioned’ social snobbery. She is seen to be overbearing on her son, Tony Lumpkin and her niece, Constance Neville in getting them married.However,her intention is soon made clear by Constance that the marriage that Mrs Hardcstle proposes is so that she can keep Constance’s fortune of jewels in the family. It is most evident that Constance’s allegations against Mrs HardCastle are correct when in the later part of the novel, Mrs HardCastle refuses to let Conatance borrow the gems to adorn her neck. She makes excuses on why Constance cannot wear the jewels saying that she need not have the jewels to adorn her when she had natural blush about her and even saying, “Besides,child,jewels are quite out at present.” The implication of Mrs Hardcastle’s actions portray her to be extremely class-conscious because she attempts to use the age-old trick of marriage for the sake of social elevation.
The Essay on Class Rigidity and Social Mobility
In late eighteenth and early nineteenth century England there was a sort of moral ‘code’ of behavior and standards that are to be maintained by the middle and upper classes of society. Austen realistically mirrors this ‘code’ through the characters and plots of her novels while showing that social flexibility was narrow and class boundaries were strict. The topics of class stringency and social ...
This act of her using marriage as a tool for social elevation is clearly seen because jewels represent wealth and it will further heighten her status as a lady to the people around her and her neighbours. Furthermore, not only do the jewels play a part in exposing her class-consciousness but the fact that she dislikes Tony going to the bar shows her discrimination of mingling with the lower class people. She would rather marry off Tony to Constance who is definitely more richer and more refined than the barmaid which Tony is taken with.
However, Tony is one of the characters whom Goldsmith portrays as one who shuns the dictatorship of social class. He prefers to lead a happy life by drinking at the pub with his lowlife friends and prefers Bet Bouncer, the barmaid, to Constance Neville any day.He states in the play “I’ll not be a bastard, I promise you. I have been thinking of Bet Bouncer.”His lack of discrimination against lower class shows that not all the characters in She stoops to conquer are portrayed as captives of social class standards.
Also, other characters who are shown not to be class-conscious is Mr Hasting. Mr Hasting, finding out that the jewels are lost to him and yet not cares gallantly shows himself not a conceited person only after Constance’s fortune but truly a man in love.
The treatment of social class is different for different characters in She stoops to Conquer and not all the characters are class-conscious and treat the lower class worse than the upper class as mentioned earlier.