82. On Social Class.
Dearly Beloved,
We English have a notable saying that “no sooner does one Englishman open his mouth than another Englishman despises him”. Surely our class divisions are firmer than the division between Montagu and Capulet and are as difficult to bridge. We do not even like to discuss them for fear of being lined up on one side or the other of the divide.
To some extent the Church of England has merely reflected that division, especially in earlier times, where the family of the local Lord of the manor would have had a prominent pew with a door to themselves and a notable monument in the church, sometimes picturing a family of sons and daughters kneeling in grateful tribute to God, or perhaps, their father.
Here in France there is social division too, it identifies itself not through regional accent but on the quality of spoken French and an evaluation of “Le Standing” of an individual. Here the the mass of French people follow the revolutionary tradition of anti-clericism only attending church for funerals. The Roman church in France is chronically short of priests because few today are prepared to vow celibacy. On the other hand, in rural areas around us there is still a quiet social elite descended from those who evaded the revolution, who are regular attendees at Mass, tend to live in large houses sometimes with distinctive lauze roofs made of limestone tiles, so heavy they have to be supported by massive roof timbers which require expensive maintenance. They are known locally as old France “Vieille France”.
Nevertheless two of the three French motifs founding principles “Égalité et fraternité often show through, as when our local butcher and his wife celebrated 30 years of trade in the village by hosting a party with a barbecue of meat from the cattle and sheep which they had bred on their smallholding. Our friends, loyal members of the RC Church situated fifteen feet from their large home together with a local Châtelan et Châtelain, descendants of the Baron Bâtard, duly showed up in tribute to the butcher and his wife and to French cuisine.
I cannot imagine the same social bonhomie happening in England. Doubtless the local gentry in England would turn up to the annual village fete, probably to open it –they might even host it - and then disappear shortly afterwards to avoid having to interact too intimately with the local tradesmen. I can still remember from my childhood discussions on the subject of whether girls should still curtsy to the vicar. But it is a long time since I lived in the British countryside, and perhaps things have changed, if only because the class divide has been made fuzzy by the infiltration into rural villages of townspeople of uncertain status.
Of course England would not be the country it is without its class divisions. There has always been some escape available through merit, after all Cardinal Wolsey and Thomas Cromwell were, respectively, the sons of a butcher and a blacksmith. But some suspect that Henry VIII favoured them precisely because they did not belong to the aristocracy whose power he wished to control. There is no such challenge to the system now except from commerce and industry which favours the rise of a highly educated and able meritocracy to service its needs.
Today class has been eclipsed by racial issues although the reality seems to be that all but the most energetic and distinguished immigrants fall automatically to the bottom of the old English social hierarchy many to emerge into the upper echelons in the first or second generation following their families arrival.
Barbed wire entanglements of etiquette and attitude adorn our long established class barriers with all their delusions and foolishness. Perhaps the distillate of these is that first promoted by the 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, who conferred upon himself and his fellow students at Balliol College Oxford “a tranquil consciousness of effortless superiority”. There is absolutely no reason to believe that Asquith was been ironic and as we all know, pride comes before a fall, and Asquith was eventually sacked as Prime Minister by his government for inadequate leadership during wartime and a notable failure to deal with conflicting views which, among other things, resulted in the Gallipoli disaster. Our present Prime Minister is believed to have similar pretensions to his unfortunate fellow alumnus. Traditionally even a second class degree is preferred to a First; after all no one would like to be seen trying too hard or being “serious” that would be contrary to gentlemanly conduct and contrary to the noble tradition of the professionally incompetent English amateur.
Personally I would like everyone in England to aspire to a diversity of forebears some born in the workhouse, others who were Irish tinkers or commonwealth immigrants and everyone should be descendants of Queen Victoria too (and not just through the efforts Edward VIIth).
After all the earthly Jesus showed how to do it; in his humanity he was the son of God but presented as the son of a carpenter and a descendant of King David. Furthermore he made only the most subtle and purposeful social distinctions amongst humanity and demanded we love our neighbours, even those who suffer from a tranquil consciousness of effortless superiority.
Peace,
Paul.
Completed: 26 July 2021
Comments
Post a Comment