@Jennifer1984 Said 
We have come a long way since d***ens time, Conflict.
d***ens's novels were mostly intended to be a form of social commentary. He was a fierce critic of, and brought to the attention of a wide audience, the poverty and social stratification of Victorian society. In an address made in New York, he said that :
"Virtue shows quite as well in rags and patches as she does in purple and fine linen".
In the Victorian Era, Britain was the major economic and political power of the world. d***ens highlighted the life of the poor and downtrodden in this (then) most wealthy of countries. Through his journalism he campaigned on specific issues such as slum housing, crime and the workhouse. He changed public opinion in regard to inequalities.
He often portrayed the exploitation and oppression of the poor and shamed public officials and institutions that not only allowed abuse to exist, but profited from it.
It's fair to suggest that some women might have used pregnancy as a means of climbing out of the gutter at that time. If you were living in an East End slum in the 19th Century, you might well have done the same.
I doubt very much it was done out of a sense of malice though, and surely not gloated over. Rather, I suggest it would more likely to have been an act of desperation and if successful, the emotion involved would have been that of relief rather than smug self satisfaction.
True on all accounts. We have indeed gone a long way since d***ens time. I don't deny that if I were living in a slum during the 19th century I would've been very happy to get married to a person who could have given me a better living. It's a matter of wanting something better and a man being decent enough to offer a woman a more reasonable existence.
Now, if we could take another example, let's think about Kelly Macdonald's role of Diane in Trainspotting. She is a fifteen year old schoolgirl who seduces Renton and then blackmails him into dating her.
I have seen the film and it seems like Diane is gloating when she rides Renton in bed and before they part ways the next day when he gives in to her.
How is this for a case study?
Oct 13, 2017 @ 13:35:09
