Strayer asks the question “What marks this family as middle-class?
How would you compare this image with the painting of middle-class life on page
838? Do the two families derive from the same segments of the middle class? Do
you think they could mix socially?
The 2 images he is referring to are a painting (pg 838) of a
middle-class French family eating dinner around their table attended by a
servant, and the drawing of a middle-class British Family (pg 873) in a
railroad compartment returning home from vacation.
Both photos are representations of middle-class families.
The French family seems to be a high middle-class family. The mother and
daughter are dressed in gowns and the men are wearing suits for their intimate
dinner. In addition, the fact that they have a servant means that they are
making significant money, suggesting they are business owners, bankers or the
like. The British family, although not attended by a servant, is seen in
fashionable clothing sitting in a railroad compartment on their way home from
vacation, a luxury that the laboring class families could not afford. This
suggests the image of this family is also high middle-class. The railroad is
thought to be the symbol of the Industrial Revolution in Brittan. The railroad
represented power and speed and “It energized punctuality, disciple, and
attention; and proved a moral teacher by the influence of example” (Strayer,
872).
Both of the middle-class families were of the high
middle-class and would most likely assimilate easily into the aristocratic
life. I don’t believe that these families would be able to socialize together.
I think the main difference here is how they spent their money; one family chooses
to be waited on, similar to the aristocrats while the other focuses on family –
maybe spending their money one education for their children. I would say that
if these two families were together socially that the French family would look
down upon the British family as if they were of a lower class.
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