Comparative: Social groups reflect the cultural context

Various social groups, both large and small, (such as family, friends, organisation or community) reflect the cultural context in texts.

                      In the three texts I have studied over the course, various social groups reflect the cultural context in each text. In 'Pride' by Matthew Warchus, the LGSM help showcase the discrimination faced by the gay community in the 1980s. In 'A Dolls House' by Henrik Ibsen, the Helmer family help show the societal expectations placed on women. Finally, in 'Persuasion' Jane Austen perfectly captures the restrictions social class had on everyday life and the lack of freedom women had.

                    In 'Pride' by Matthew Warchus, we are introduced to LGSM, a group of lesbian and gay people trying to raise money for impoverished miners taking part in the strike in 1984. As a group they are discriminated against. Several mining communities hang up on them when they try to find a village to send money to. They don't want any connection to the LGBT community, despite the aid they might bring. A brick is later thrown through their window and they are labelled 'Perverts' by the media. This group allows us to understand the cultural context, as we witness the harassment and prejudice faced by the gay community. They are shamed by the surrounding world and not given the freedom to be themselves. The danger faced by the group is most apparent when a member of the group, Gethin is beaten up. One of the group's rules is that they never fundraise alone; the reason for this is soon revealed as Gethin is violently beaten up and ends up in hospital. This was a reality faced by gay men in the 1980's, attacked for trying to express themselves. Homosexuality was not just frowned upon, it was violently protested. The groups in this text perfectly reflect the cultural context, in a world full of discrimination, the members of LGSM are not free to express themselves. 

               Similarly, freedom is a key issue in 'A Doll's House' by Henrik Ibsen. In this text we meet Nora, a housewife controlled not just by her husband but by the weight of the society she lives in. As a women, Nora is discriminated against. She admits that her husband Torvald only likes her because of her beauty. The Helmer family showcases the cultural context of the text as we view the treatment of women in society. Nora is being blackmailed, and a letter has just been sent to her husband to let him know what she has does. She is powerless to stop Torvald receiving it, and tries to delay him using the only way she knows to influence him, her body. She frantically dances the Tarantella in a panicked attempt to distract her husband. The reaction to the dance changes from awe to shock and horror as her movements became more frantic and violent. Her movements are unkeeping with the societal expectation of how a lady behaves, and the perception of femininity at the time. The dance helps to reflect the cultural context, as a women Nora is not free to express herself and is powerless compared to her husband. 

              Likewise, in Austen's 'Persuasion' women are discriminated against and can not express themselves. Despite having three daughters, Sir Walter's estate and money will go to a distant male heir. The daughters will have to marry well to secure financial security for their future. They do not have the same rights as men. Just like Nora is not free to be herself, Anne is not free to follow her heart in Persuasion. She is persuaded to turn down a proposal from Captain Wentworth as it is not beneficial enough to her family. The Captain has little money and no title. The constraints of the class system and duty to her family mean that Anne is not free to marry who she loves. Anne's inability to express her true feelings reflect the cultural context in a text where money and titles are more important than feeling. This is acknowledged by Mr Elliot when he says 'Good company requires only birth, education and manner' The men in the navy also face discrimination. Sir Walter is reluctant to let his house to a naval officer. He dislikes the proffession as he believes it makes men ugly and also has the means of bringing people of 'obscure birth into undue distinction'. In this world, birth and family connections are highly valued, we are shown this later in the novel when Sir Walter is eager to reconnect with their cousins the Dalyrmples, who is a Viscountess.
         In all three novels, the authors succeed in showing the cultural context by presenting us with different social groups, while these social groups vary from families to organisations and social circles, they all allow the reader to develop their understanding of the cultural context. Freedom and discrimination are both addressed in these three texts. 

(comparative) Discuss the extent tow which you were surprised or shocked (or both) by aspects of a theme or issue encountered in the texts you have studied for your comparative course. Support your answer by reference to the texts.

For my comparative course I studied the film ‘Pride’ by Matthew Warchus, the play ‘A Doll’s House’ by Henrik Ibsen and the book ‘Persuasion’ by Jane Austen. From studying these texts, I discovered that I was shocked and surprised by many aspects of themes encountered in my comparative study, but mainly the theme of dysfunctional family. In ‘Pride’ the theme of dysfunctional family is highly evident from the storyline especially for one of the main characters Joe. Joe is a young, closeted gay man living with his parents in a homophobic environment and throughout the film, we follow him on his journey of expressing his sexuality with the help of some friends. At the beginning of the film, Joe accidentally runs into the Gay Pride March and from here becomes acquainted with a group known as ‘Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners’ (LGSM). As we follow Joe in the film, he surprisingly becomes good friends with the people in LGSM, but as they are gays and lesbians, he must hide the fact that he is friends with them from his family as they are homophobic, which I find shocking. He uses a pastry course for his cover up story when he is meeting with LGSM, he brings home pastries after being out with them and tells his parents that he baked the pastries in the ‘course’ that day. The theme of dysfunctional family is quite evident in Joe’s family as he has to live two separate lives to hide his sexuality from his parents; a ‘straight’ man going to a pastry course and a gay man going to hang out with his gay, lesbian and miner friends- viewers are left surprised by the complicated life he must live as Joe cannot be himself, like Nora in ‘A Doll’s House’. One day as Joe is out with LGSM, his mother and sister are in his bedroom cleaning up when the stumble upon the book that Joe has hidden pictures of him and LGSM in, once again we are shocked at this because the family now know he is gay without his knowledge. When Joe returns home he is greeted to his father shouting at him and his mother crying silently and manipulating him, he knows that they know. Once again, the theme of dysfunctional family is evident here as Joe’s mother is manipulating him instead of comforting him or accepting him for who he is, “It’s such a terrible life Joe”. In this scene when Joe was forced to ‘come out’ and his parent’s reaction to it, was a very shocking and surprising moment in the film for me as it showed how homophobic people were in the 1980’s, even unable to accept their own family. In my eyes, in 2019, I cannot comprehend how one could not accept their own son which is why this moment shocked me so much. From here, Joe takes a surprising turn by deciding to leave his parents' house and live with friends so he can live one life, his own one. 

We can see clearly the theme of dysfunctional family is evident in ‘Pride’ and much like in ‘A Doll’s House’, the theme of dysfunctional family is also highly evident here, through secrets and deception but as well as through the inequality to women at the time. In ‘A Doll’s House’ (ADH), we are introduced to a loving, happy family and marriage but as we follow the play this happiness and love, shockingly, unravels into an unequal, deceptive marriage leading to an unhappy, broken home.  Nora is a stay at home wife and mother whilst Torvald works and provides for the family. At the beginning of the play the theme of dysfunctional family is surprisingly already present with Torvald calling Nora childlike animal names, “Skylark”, “Squirrel”, condescending Nora and treating her like a child, which is not how a functional family should work as each member should be treated fairly. Nora's friend Christine comes to visit and tells Nora about her job, which was surprising as it was unlike women to be working at the time of the play. We are shocked when Nora tells Christine about her secret job as we believed he did not work and because Torvald does not know either, showing the theme of dysfunctional family here as Nora is keeping secrets and is also living two separate lives. As we follow Nora in the play, we discover that surprisingly, men controlled her throughout her life, much like in ‘Persuasion’ also, especially in the scene with the Tarantella. Piano music played by Dr. Rank, Nora’s best friend, accompanies Nora as she dances whilst her husband tells her what to do, here we see two men controlling Nora, acting as puppet masters to the doll (Nora). This is a shocking moment in the play with Nora physically spinning out of control of her own life as men have the power over it. The theme of dysfunctional family is clearly present here with Nora having a break down over the life she is living with her family and the secrets that are being kept. How can someone be their own person when they are unable to live their own life as they please? From this moment forward the plot takes a surprising turn with Nora deciding to find her own two feet in the world by leaving her family to become educated and live her own life without the control of men. 

Once again, it is evident that the theme of dysfunctional family is present in ‘ADH’ and likewise the theme of dysfunctional family is also shown in ‘Persuasion’ through inequality and favouritism. In ‘Persuasion’ the main family is the Elliott family consisting of Sir Walter Elliott, Elizabeth, Mary, and Anne. At the beginning of the book, we discover that surprisingly the Elliott family have become broke as the father is overcome in debt and has sweltered his inheritance without any care for his daughters in the slightest, so the family must retrench. I thought this was quite shocking because Sir Walter has left no money for the family to live off, and I am surprised he never considered that only Mary is married, therefore there is no other money coming into the family either. To save money, Sir Walter decides to move the family to a smaller house out in Bath without input any from his daughters, Anne dislikes Bath but gets no say as she is “Only Anne”. The theme of dysfunctional family is present here with Sir Walter having all the say in the family, the family do not make any joint decisions; Sir Walter spends the family money as he pleases without any consultation with his daughters and unsurprisingly, ends up turning the whole family broke. Elizabeth is the favourite daughter to Sir Walter and they act like husband and wife, as Sir Walter’s wife has died. Since Mary is married, she is not living at home meaning it is just Sir Walter, Elizabeth and Anne going to Bath. I found it quite shocking how Anne was sent to Uppercross before Bath to take care of Mary, but mainly because she is not wanted in Bath by Elizabeth as they have surprisingly different values which annoys Elizabeth muchly. Even though we can see Anne is the intelligent, realistic, modern character she is not valued like such. The theme of dysfunctional family is shown here with a strong hierarchy between the sisters and the complete underappreciation of their own family, of Anne. I do not find it surprising that Elizabeth and Sir Walter get along as they do as they are too busy in their own worlds’ to have the time of day to appreciate anything but themselves and the class rankings. As we follow Anne throughout the book, we see she gains confidence and begins to rebel against her father and against the social status quo. It is a refreshing surprise to see Anne achieve a happy ending away from her dysfunctional family, like Joe in ‘Pride’ and Nora in ‘ADH’.