An Inspector Calls- Context 1912 Edwardian Era
An Inspector Calls- Context 1912 Edwardian Era
1. The role of Women; mainly domestic
1.1. married woman
1.1.1. no servant - clean, cook and take care of children. Men expected the meal on the table when they arrived home and everything was made from scratch. helpmate for their husbands
1.1.2. Upper class who had servant - manage the servants, the household, and the household expenses.
1.1.3. divorce shunned upon so bad marriage lasted as women were so reliant on husband. if divorces woman may lose social status
1.2. Lower class or unmarried women
1.2.1. often have to work usually cheap labour since women payed less than men due to little economic power to negotiate higher wages or better treatment
1.2.2. domestic service (as a cook, maid etc.) or in factories
1.2.3. ‘fallen women’ or ‘damaged goods’ - women who had children outside of marriage
1.3. No rights couldnt vote
2. Political unrest and the Labour Movement
2.1. moving towards more equality instead of few elites
2.1.1. increasing amount of strikes
2.2. industrial revolution 2: science became industrialised so new technology
2.2.1. generated mass production for good quality and affordable prices. this created appalling working conditions
2.2.2. new science based industry destroyed some others globally
2.3. industrial/factory workers concentrated in major cities was important for social change
3. The Class system and Inequality
3.1. little interaction between classes; rigid hierarchical class system
3.2. Industrial Revolution
3.2.1. poor/working class: suffered cramped and unpleasant working and living conditions, limited rights, poor wages (lack of workers’ rights) and power of Industrialist in Parliament. some women used for sexual pleasure by upper class men. tools or objects to be used by the Upper classes.
3.2.2. wealthy: new business owner class. married people higher class, did traditionally upper class activities (Balls, hunting, golf, white-tie dinners etc) superiority, more civilised, refined and worthy than the working classes
4. British Empire and superiority
4.1. British Empire still spread over ¼ of the entire Globe
4.1.1. Titanic was meant to illustrate British dominance in all aspects of life