(CS) Cultural Context Flashcards
(15 cards)
Describe the role of Setting and Social Class in Small Things Like These.
Small Things Like These is set in New Ross, Co. Wexford, in 1985. Life is difficult for most. While Bill has his own business, others are not as fortunate. It’s a time of high emigration and unemployment: “leaving for London and Boston, New York”. When Bill travels around on Christmas Eve, he sees a young schoolboy drinking the milk out of the cat’s bowl behind the priests house
There’s a strict social hierarchy in the world of the text. It’s a time where the Church commands a great deal of reverence and respect. As a result the nuns and priests live in relative luxury even thought there’s little indication of religious orders engages in meeninglful charity.
Social class is particularly prevelent when discussing the unmarried women and girls in the coventary. They are worked to the point of wishing for their own deaths, yet the clergys position menas that few are willing to stand to them. At the Christmas carol the nuns walk around, “supervising and talking to some of the more well-off parents”. They clearly view them selves as social superior to the majority of townspeople.
Bill is keenly aware of the inequalities in his town. He’s in an usual social position because he was born to an unmarried mother. Therefore, in the eyes of many he has seemed to come “from nothing, or as some cruely say, “less than nothing”.
Describe the role of Setting and Social Class in Sive.
Like STLT, Sive is sent in an Ireland struggling with poverty and emigration. Because of the Glavin’s life in rural Ireland, they struggle even harder than those in New Ross where there is at least a small level of opportunity.
Life in the Glavin household is primative. The kitchen is poorly furnished and they have no access to electricity, fire or running water. This is clearly a hard place to live and this is reflected in the hardness of the characters.
As in the novel, there are those in the play who are more fortunate than others, but use their position to take advantage of others. Just as the nuns trade human being through adoption schemes, so Séan Dóta effectively tries to buy Sive. He instructs Thomasheen to tell Mena that she will get 200 soverigns if she can persuade Sive for the match.
Mena reflects that Sive will have “Twenty cows and money to burn!”. She clearly believes Sive could not possibly do better “for all her airs and graces”.
Like Bill, Sive is illegitimate and has to cope with being viewed as inferior as a result. However unlike the novel where unmarried mothers and their children as “less than nothing”, Sive is not viewed that way by most of the community. Rather it seems just Thomasheen and Mena who view her as a “bye-child”.
Describe the role of Setting and Social Class of The Shawshank Redemption.
The principal difference between the SASC in the film and other 2 texts is that the majority of TSR takes place in the confirns of a fictional prison in Maine. As a result, the world of the text is largely limited to the prison environment and it is the social structure within those walls that affects the characters’ lives.
However even in prison there’s social hierarchy, but unlike the other two texts wealth and social status don’t go hand in hand. Red remarks scornfully that Andy might’a been important on the outside, but in here was just a little turd in prison grays.
In Shawshank it’s the warden and guards who are highest in the pecking order. When Bogs is released from “the hole”, he says, It’s your world, boss to the guard who opens the door. The guards social status, like that of the nuns, is based on intimidation and control. The girls in the coventry are treated as badly as the prisoners in the film. Just as the girls are sent to the coal shed, the boys are sent to “The hole”.
In all 3 texts, we see those who have an elevated social standing using their position to abuse others. The nuns sell babies in illegal adoptions, Sive is effectively sold to Séan Dóta and Norton uses Andy to launder money he makes from illicit deals.
Andy, Like Bill, stands up to the oppressive regime. Bill frees Sarah from the Laundry while Andy escapes from the prison, it could even be argued Sive taken her own life was a form of standing up to her parents.
Decribe the role of Gender in Small Things like These
The world of STLT is predominantely patriarchal. For the most part, women’s work is housework and raising children while the men earn for their families. Eileen is aware of the social restriction posed on women, she tells Bill that Mrs Wilson was “one of the few women on this earth who could do as she pleased” because she was wealthy. Most women don’t have this freedom and as a result must abide by the restrictions imposed on them.
Bill knows that the world is difficult for women in particular. When it comes to gener and sexuality, there is a double standard. Bill hears “a sharp hot whistle and laughter” from men on the street and then he worries about his daughters growing up and “going out into the world of men”. Although his girls are yound he has already seen men staring at them, and there is no judgement of the men who view women in this way.
Similarly the young women in the cnvent are looked down upon for being pregnant, but there is no suggestion of accountability for the fathers. Those taken into the laundry are considered “of low character” and “common unmarried girls” so nobody in the community does anything to help them.
Describe the role of Gender in Sive.
The world of Sive is also largely male-dominated. Like STLT, the play presents us with a patriarchal society in which women are generally confined to their home. The older men will only consider marrying a woman if she brings money to match. Mike is astonished when Mena tells him that a wealthy farmer wants to marry Sive: “What farmer of that size would take her without money”?
Like Eileen, Mena recognises the helplessness of most women in society. Just as Eileen envies Mrs Wilson’s freedom, Mena is jalous of Sive. Mena herself had to work for her “fortune” and shows jealous os Sive’s 2nd level education, saying that when she was Sive’s age, she worked “from dawn to dark to put aside my fortune”. It’s also worth noting that unlike STLT, Sive is a girl, and most of her main obstacles stem from that.
There is another significant difference between the novel and play in regards to gender roles. In the novel, there is no judgement of fathers leaving pregnant women, in the play, however, Mike confronts Liam accusing him of wanting to sleep with Sive but not wanting responsability for any of the consequences. He says jeeringly, I know what you’re after”. Mike also repeatedly calls Sive’s father “a snake”.
Describe the role of Gender in The Shawshank Redemption.
Gender roles in TSR are more extreme than both of the other texts. The world of the film is overwhelmingly male. As in the novel and the play, men weild all the power in society. Unlike the other two texts where the victims are predominantely female, the men in Shawshank both act on and experience the negative reprecussions of toxic masculinity. Moments such as Bogs raping Andy or the guards glee in physical punishment exemplify this notion.
In all 3 texts, women are objetcified. In the novel and play, they not only lack freedom and independance, but must also beware of being prey upon by men. *Bill worries about the men prawling the streets while Sive is appalled by Séan Dóta’s aggressive attempt to sexually assualt her. *
The men in Shawshank similarly objectify women. The prisoners hoot and whistle with delight when Rita Haywoth appears on screen, and Red readily believes that Andy may want “girly fetishes” for his cell wall. Red tolerantly thinks the pictures help Andy “to keep his mind occupied”.
As time passes, the posters become increasingly sexualised and the women’s outfits more recealing. This reflects the transition from the post-ware American female ideal to that of the more liberal 1960’s. In every era, and in all three texts there is one constant. Women’s beauty and sex appeal are paramount.
Describe the role of Love and Marriage in Small Things Like These.
In STLT, we are presented with 2 views of love and marriage. One idea is the belief that marriage is the only option for 2 who wish to have a family. Women who are pregnant outside of wedlock are generally disowned from their families and sent to a mother-baby home where they are treated horrifically.
On the other hand, Bill and Eileen are happily married with five daughters. As they are busy with work, there’s little time for romantic gestures, Nevertheless, they show love for one another with little acts of kindness. For example, when Eileen notices Bill was down and correctly guessed something happened at work that day, or when Bill got Eileen the shoes she was admiring as a Christmas gift.
Although they are clearly a united couple, the text doesn’t present us with an idealised version of love and marriage. There are moments of discord and issues between Bil land Eileen. Bill wishes to help the girls in the laundrette but Eileen disagrees. By the end of the story Bill eventually does act on his own accord saving the girl, however it ends before we see how this action affected his marriage. It likely caused a great deal of tension.
Describe the role of Love and Marriage in Sive.
In Sive, we are presented with different attitudes to love and marriage. In the novel, one view is positive while the other is negative. In both texts. The legitimacy of wedlock impacts the lives of the characters, while in the play there’s the added view that marriage is nothing but a business transaction. Those who posess this attitude do not care about the hurt they cause others.
Mena and Thomasheen represent this cynical view of love. Mena grew in poverty and believed that marriage was the only form of escape. She tells Sive she’s do anything “to make a home with a man, any man that would show us four walls for his time in the world”. Thomasheen also scorns lovve and mocks the romantic sentiments Liam Scuab expresses in his letter to Sive: “He will never have a woman the way he is going about it!” Thomasheen does his best to arrange Séan Dóta and Sives marriage exclusively for the monetary benefit, her love for Liam means nothing to him.
In both the novel and the play, marriage as seen at the only option for those who want children. Since Sive was born out of wedlock, this is used against her. Mena and Thomasheen believe Sive should consider herself lucky for the chance to marry Séan Dóta due to her illegitmacy, similar to Bill who is looked down on for the same reason.
The one positive notion of Love and Marriage in the play is between that of Liam Scuab and Sive. Liam Scuab expresses genuine love for her and Sive returns it. However not many others are supportive of this relationship and he is gradually isolated from her, painting a very negative view on love and marriage.
Describe the role of Love and Marriage in The Shawshank Redemption.
Much like Sive, the film presents us with an overwhelmingly negative view on love and marriage. The film opens with Andy’s wife engaging in a passionate affair while her husband sits in his car with a gun and some whiskey. While he drunkenly contemplates, the song “If i didn’t care” starts playing. The lyrics are telling: “If I didn’t care… then why do I thrill”? The implication is that Andy loves his wife and is so jealous he could do anything.
Because of the prison environment, there’s little opportunity for expressions of love. Rather, we see a horrific perversion of relationships far more harmful that Mena and Thomasheen’s perspective. Bogs and his friends “The Bull Queers” are violent rapists who view rejection as playing “hard to get”. When Andy asks if he should tell them he isn’t gay, Red tells him that to them, sex is all about power, using rape as their wepon.
This is a far bleaker view than in either the play or novel. At least then the pain from love was a side-affect of selfishness, here Bogs goal is simply to make Andy suffer. The fact Andy hates them increases their enjoyment of the rapes.
The only positive view of love in the film is the completely platonic relationship between Andy and Red. This is different to the novel or play where love and attraction go hand in hand. In TSR, Andy and Red share an incredible bond. Morgan Freemean, who plays Red, describes the film as “love story between two men” So Traditional views of love and marriage are overwhelmingly negative, but Andy and Red’s love for one another is debatably the strongest bond across all 3 texts and it also offers us the happy ending that the other 2 text lack.
Describe the role of Religion in Small Things Like These.
Religion has an overwhelmingly negative impact on the characters in STLT. The Catholical Church sets the moral status quo and those who do not toe the line are harshly delt with. Unmarried mother’s are particularly vulnerable to the churches cruelty and dominance. The hypocrisy of the Church’s “charity” is astonishing. They show now Christian mercy to those most vulnerable in their society.
The turning point in the novel is Bill’s discovery of Sarah, a young mohter locked in the coal shed. Bill heard rumors of maltreatment in the “training school”, but is horritied to encounter the reality. The Mother Superior subtly makes it clear that Bill depends on the Church by reminding him of his daughters education, music lessons and places in the choir. Her threats are discreet, but obvious.
The Church’s power means that few dare defy them, Mrs Kehoe warns Bill against involving himself with the convent. She says “keep the enemy close, the bad dog with you”, in other words, the Church are dangerous so side with them. She also reminds him that the nuns “have a finger in every pie”.
Ultimately, Bill makes the decision to defy the Church. He rescues Darah and takes her home achknowledging he is bringing “A world of trouble” on himself. Bill believes it more important to stand up to the Church than to choose the easy path, indicatiing that the tide may be turning and that, in time, the Church wont wield such power.
Describe the role of Religion in Sive.
As in the novel, religion shapes the attitudes of the characters in the play. Just as Bill demonstrates true christian values in his freeing of Sarah and defiance of the Church, so too does Liam Scuab possess these religious sensabilities. He draws on religion when appealing to Mike and Mena to realise that “A day will dawn for all of us when an account must be given”. He also asks if they are “forgetting him who died on Calvary” and compares the treatment of Sive to pushing “hard crokked thorns deep into his helpless body”.
However, Mike and Mena, like the Mother Superior put their own needs before any moral or religious values. Liam finally realises this, saying, “nothing in Heaven or Hell could move ye to see wrong!” Both the clergy and Mena and Mike oay lip sercies to religion but it doesn’t affect their moral decision making.
Unlike the novel in which there is a sign of the change to come in Bill’s standing up to the Church, there is no indication that anything will improve in the play. When Liam carries Sive’s body, Liam curses Mena and wishes that “the hand of Jesus may strike you dead where you stand”.
Describe the role of Religion in The Shawshank Redemption.
Much like in STLT and SIVE Religion is a negative influence on the lives of the characters because lip service is paid to the Church by those in authority who lack morality. The Warden, Norton is more overtly hypocritical than the Mother Superior While she tries to pretend that she treates those in her care well, Norton makes no such attempt.
Norton is a deeply immoral, cruel man. He holds a Bible when talking to the new prisoners, telling them, “I’ll not have the Lord’s name taken in vain in my prison”. Within moments, he orders the abuse of a prisoner. Norton then claims to believe in 2 things only, “Discipline and the Bible”. He advises the men to put their faith “in the Lord” but reminds them they’re subject to his authority:“Your ass belongs to me”.
In all 3 texts, there is a contrast in the belief system between those in authority and their actual views, but this is most obvious in the film. The nuns and Mena know that if the extent of their cruelty were know, they’d be frowned upon. Norton need not concern himself with this because society has already written off the men in Shawshank.
In contrast to the other 2 texts, our final impression of religion in the world is a positive one. When Andy escapes Shawshank he steals the ledger exposing the warden’s money laundering leaves behind a copy of the bible. Ironically, the safe is hidden behind a Bible verse that reads, “His Judgement cometh and that right soon”. Andy opens the Bible to reveal a note left for him saying “Salvation lay within”. This ending is much more positive than the endings in the other 2 texts and the religious themes follow suit.
Describe the role of Family in Small Things Like These.
Only “traditional” families are accepted in the world of the text. The Church’s view of unmarried mothers means children outside of wedlock aren’t easily accepted into society. Fortunately for Bill’s mother, she was employed by a protestant women of independt means who “told her she should stay on, and keep her work” when she became pregnant.
One of the most disturbing aspects of familes values in the text is the tacit acceptance of the cruely visited on those who don’t adhere to social norms. There are many that believe that girls who “get into trouble” are unworthy of respect and their children are looked down upon. As a result, Bill was bullied in school getting called “ugly names” and even spat on.
Although it is known that the young women in the convent “training school” are mistreated, people in the town do nothing about it out of prioritisation of their own families. Eileen is a decent woman yet doesn’t want to know about the other small families that are being abused in the convent. Her attitude may seem cold but she believes she has no choice if she is to care properly for her own children, and you can’t fault her for thinking so.
However, Bill is unable to share Eileen’s pragmatic attitude. He knows how easy his and his mothers fate could have shared the fate of these women he encounters in the chapel. He is appalled to find a girl locking the freezing coal shed but allows the Mother Superior’s veiled threaths to silence him. Ultimately, Bill makes the decision that may jeopardize his families future, but feels okay with the decision comparing it to Mrs Wilson saving his own family.
Describe the role of Family in Sive.
In both the play and novel, there’s little tolerance for family life that foesn’t conform to societal norms. Sive is constantly reminded that her parents were unmarried and is therefore less respectable. Mena throws this in her face tellering her that her father was “no father” and that she has “no name” as a result.
Mena’s attitude is similar to that of the townspeople in the novel, who look down on Bill Furlong and support the convent laundry to keep unmarried mothers out of sight. Yet despite this, Sive is less negatively affected by the story of her birth than Bill Furlong. Liam’s willingness to marry Sive despite her background like Bill, reflects a hope for a more tolerant future.
Because the play is set in rural Ireland, family-like is quite different to the novel. Although both texts are set in a time of economic hardship, the custom of generations of family living under one roof is particular to the play. This adds a great deal of familial tension to the Glavin household.
In the world of the text, people are judged by their family situation as much as they are for their own characteristics. Nanna won’t let her forget her poor upbringing, and Mena and Mike in turn distrust Liam becayse Sive’s father was a relation of his. Mike is convinced Liam is like his “snake of a cousin” who are both “the one breed”. Mena similarly tells him that it was “One of your breed that blackened [Sive’s] name”.
Describe the role of Family in The Shawshank Redemption.
The view of family the the film is very different to that of the novel or play in large part due to the setting of Shawshank prison. However there are similarieties, in that families are viewed as socially acceptable aren’t necessarily supportive while those that break the mould may have more to offer.
For example, Hadly seems to care little for his family. He mentions having children, but in a hostil tone in the context of his brothers will. His apathetic regard to “some brother” shows his lack or care. He mentions if he got a car how his “Goddamn kids” would “Pester [him]”.
Hadley’s dislike of his family is reminiscent of Mena’s resentment of Nanna and Sive, both of who she considers a burden,
One imporant similarity between the novel and the film is the lesson that family values have little to do with biological bonds. When Bill rescues Sarah, he says that he feels happier than when he first held his infant daughts. Similarly, we see Andy take young Tommy “under his wing” and show hims the sort of caring support a father would provide.
In all 3 texts, family is considered a complex issue that defies simple definitions.
