When dear old Mrs. Hay went back to town after staying with the Burnells she sent the children a doll's house. (…)
Source: Mansfield, Katherine “The Doll’s House.” In: Katherine Mansfield The Doves’ Nest and Other Stories. A.A. Knopf, 1923.
Available at pp. 25-38 at [🔗]
current affairs
What determines social class? In The New York Times article “Notes on the upper muddle,” Lucinda Rosenfeld discusses cultural capital as a determinant of social class. In The New York Times article “Stop pretending you’re not rich,” Richard Reeves isolates the top 20 per cent as a social class who are able to protect their privileges across generations while perpetuating the myth that social mobility is meritocratic.
links
questions
1. How do the children and Aunt Beryl treat the Kelvey girls? Do they derive some psychological benefit from treating them in this way? How do the Kelvey girls react?
2. How do the sibling dynamics play out? Which siblings are more constrained by the rules of engagement, as laid out by the parents?
3. In “Notes on the Upper Muddle,” Lucinda Rosenfeld concludes: “For if there’s one taboo subject left in the United States, it may be the existence of a class system as closed and inflexible as the one my husband left across the Atlantic.” How does she support this claim? What is the relevance of “cultural capital” in the determination of class? Comment on her choice of title for the article.
4. In “Stop Pretending …” Richard Reeves writes: “So imagine my horror at discovering that the United States is more calcified by class than Britain, especially toward the top. The big difference is that most of the people on the highest rung in America are in denial about their privilege. The American myth of meritocracy allows them to attribute their position to their brilliance and diligence, rather than to luck or a rigged system. At least posh people in England have the decency to feel guilty.” How does he support this claim? Comment on his choice of title for the article.