social class in Hobson's Choice

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  • Created by: lolliolli
  • Created on: 08-06-20 09:29
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  • Social Class
    • Middle Class
      • Hobson
        • "I'm British middle class and I'm proud of it"
        • He employs people to work for him - Tubby, Willie and his 3 daughters.
        • He is a member of the Masons
        • Has his own business - his business is doing a good class trade because carriage folk come.
        • He is told that settlements are expected from a man like him when his daughters get married.
        • He reluctantly agrees to put on a collar and tie as a mark of respect for Willie at the end of the play.
        • He owns his own home, and his daughters are well educated, especially Maggie.
      • Albert Prosser thinks that it is beneath himself to push a handcart through Salford in broad daylight.  He worries that his friends might see him and it might ruin his reputation.
    • Upper Class
      • Mrs Hepworth
        • Lives at Hope Hall, which would have always belonged to her family
        • She doesn't work but can afford to lend Maggie and Will £100 when they need it
        • She speaks downs to Hobson (tells him to hold his tongue and calls him Hobson not Mr Hobson)
        • She travels around by carriage, and always dresses nicely in 'good clothes'
        • She carries a visiting cars with her name and address on it
        • She has her shoes custom made to her taste
        • She speaks without the Lancashire dialect
    • Working Class
      • Ada Figgins
        • She speaks in a common way - 'You've spoke too late. Will and me's tokened.'
        • She doesn't have an education - When Maggie says the idiom 'you're treading on my foot' she looks at Maggie's feet.
        • She wears typical working class clothes - clogs and a shawl.
      • Maggie and Willies home is looked down upon and is described as a wretched cellar.
      • When Hobson complains about his daughters wearing the latest fashions Vickey says 'Do you want us to dress like mill girls?' showing that the lower classed cannot afford to dress fashionably.
      • Hobson looks down on Willie because his father was a 'workhouse brat.'
    • Class is shown in Hobsons shop: Upper Class buy custom made shoes, Middle Class wear ready made shoes and Working Class wear wooden clogs.
    • Why class matters
      • When Hobson's Choice was written Social Class was a big problem.  Lots of people were moving about on the social class ladder (like Willie does) and there were a lot of middle class people like Hobson who is very proud of his middle class position and does not approve of having anything to do with the lower class.

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