Last night was my Classic Moms Class online from Abigail Adams Academy. We were discussing "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen. I've read the book before and really liked reading it again. I do wish I had taken more time to write down my thoughts as I read though. I feel like I remember so much more of the book when I do that.
During our discussion last night, someone brought up the class thing. The book is filled with class issues, Mr. Darcy's main hesitation about asking Elizabeth to marry him is because of her lower social class. What we were talking about was whether or not classes exist today. I don't think they do as they did then. I understand that people who are poor don't always have the chance to change that. There may be no influence to show them another way of life, but it isn't impossible as it was in the past.
Today, if a rich and well educated person were to go and find a family to "adopt" and help through tough times or someone from that family was able to get an education for themselves, raise their standard of living, or even become rich themselves, they are not excluded from activities and events given by other rich people because they used to be poor. Wow! Was that a sentence?
In the past there was a wall between the classes. If you were born a farmer and you became rich somehow, you were still not allowed to attend the ball of some aristocrat. You were of a lower class and did not belong.
Today, at least in our country, things are different. I agree there are economic classes, but they can be transcended, even if it is unlikely or difficult. Yes, there are people in our country who still think, "Well, he just recently became rich, unlike us, who had our money handed down for generations." But typically, if you can buy a ticket, you're in.
There is also a difference in the term "class". One can have class and not be rich or aristocratic. And one can be rich and have no class whatsoever. That was true then and now. The book has some great examples of that as well.
During our discussion last night, someone brought up the class thing. The book is filled with class issues, Mr. Darcy's main hesitation about asking Elizabeth to marry him is because of her lower social class. What we were talking about was whether or not classes exist today. I don't think they do as they did then. I understand that people who are poor don't always have the chance to change that. There may be no influence to show them another way of life, but it isn't impossible as it was in the past.
Today, if a rich and well educated person were to go and find a family to "adopt" and help through tough times or someone from that family was able to get an education for themselves, raise their standard of living, or even become rich themselves, they are not excluded from activities and events given by other rich people because they used to be poor. Wow! Was that a sentence?
In the past there was a wall between the classes. If you were born a farmer and you became rich somehow, you were still not allowed to attend the ball of some aristocrat. You were of a lower class and did not belong.
Today, at least in our country, things are different. I agree there are economic classes, but they can be transcended, even if it is unlikely or difficult. Yes, there are people in our country who still think, "Well, he just recently became rich, unlike us, who had our money handed down for generations." But typically, if you can buy a ticket, you're in.
There is also a difference in the term "class". One can have class and not be rich or aristocratic. And one can be rich and have no class whatsoever. That was true then and now. The book has some great examples of that as well.
3 comments:
Hi, Michelle! It was a great class. Thanks for sharing some of your take-aways and thoughts on social class here.
I see you're reading a Ron Paul book. What do you think? I'm very in line with him politically, particularly in his convictions about the US Constitution, but I have not yet read any of his books, sadly.
Best,
Glory
Thanks, Glory! Any book by Ron Paul is great because they are simple and concise and read just like he talks. The one I'm reading now is especially great because it goes through each of his convictions and the reasons behind it. And anything I have read in his book is always backed up by his actions. They are worth the buy for sure.
I love Pride and Prejudice. And I think you're right about there not being a class system here and now, at least not like there once was. I think it can be hard to break free from poverty, but it can be done more easily now than when P&P was written.
Sounds like a great class. :-)
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