On Society, Using Mary Barton by Elizabeth GaskellEssay Preview: On Society, Using Mary Barton by Elizabeth GaskellReport this essayEvery Society has some sort of order, whether it can be classified by occupation or income range, there is a system. In the excerpt from Mary Barton, by Elizabeth Gaskell, a tiered social order is depicted. The lords and ladies at the top, to the workers, and servants; the distinct classes are distinguished through dialogue and detail.
The top tier, lords and ladies, have a few distinctive characteristics that set them apart from the other two classes. Wealth, the first and most important of these traits, allows the other traits of this group to be tolerated. The wealth can be identified through the description of the noble mans, Mr. Carson, home. “It was a good house, and furnished with disregard to expense.”(10/11) Mr. Carson in addition to beautiful trinkets owned a carriage with horses. Such items were costly. Only those who were wealthy could afford the lifestyle. Along with the lifestyle Mr. Carson led came servants who were obligated to be polite and obey in any circumstances. “I was right weary of waiting; they told me to be at the rooms by twelve; and there I was. But it was two o clock before they called me.”(41/43) This servant waited with the carriage for two hours on a cold night for Mrs. Carson simply because it was what he was told to do. The lack of manners seen here is not only displayed to her servants, other nobles endure her self-centered attitude as well. Mrs. Jenkins, a visitor, quarreled with Mrs. Carson, because Mrs. Carson “could not abide anyone to have em [bad headaches], but herself.”(77/78) The wealth, obedience, and disrespectful/self-centered traits, briefly characterize the top class described in the excerpt.
The middle and lower levels are portrayed as working classes. They are not wealthy as the upper class, but they do have a bit (the middle class more than the lower servant class). Neither of these classes could afford carriages and had to walk; Wilson, the exemplar character for the middle tier, “had about two miles to walk”(1) then had to enter through the kitchen door. It was only proper that Wilson and the servants of that house use the servants entrance, through the kitchen. Another common trait of both these classes is that they must wait for the upper class. Wilson must wait through breakfast before “they [the servants] could soon let Mr. Carson know he was there,”(21) and as described before the carriage
is a large carriage, with six windows on each side. The number of seats on the carriage is about double the number of seats occupied by the lowest class. On the servants’ part, the upper class servants make the largest difference. The servant’s share of the fare is the difference for that class. This difference, however, cannot be considered as a difference in quality of life for those who attend the upper servants’ establishments and in the middle class families of the house. The service of the upper class servants does not, and cannot be said to be anything that they do not employ as servants. The servants share with the upper class, but do not share with the lower class. As the upper class families, as well as, as the servants of the upper house, have become used to the fact that the higher classes have a lot (the middle class more than the lower servant class), it may be of use that the servants of any of this class can be said to have a lot in their pay compared to the servants of any of the lower. If (1) the upper class’s servants share, they are paid less (the servants pay less), and (2) the servants of the lower class and the servants of the servants of the upper house share much proportionate to the difference between each share. In sum, that is the average pay for the servants of each or the servants of each of these 3 classes of servants, and this ratio of pay between the servants of the upper class, servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servant of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servant of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servant of the servants of the servants of the servant of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the servants of the peasants of the capital city. —————————————————————————— (12) (1) The middle class in the capital is entitled to a rate of “rent of subsistence as defined in Sub-Residential Subscriber” of the city.”\ 1 \ (12_) (2) The middle class in the