tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2894424668798268698.post8237960186011511035..comments2024-02-16T01:00:33.484-08:00Comments on To the Manor Born: Nasty HabitsLucy R. Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08632983296994349550noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2894424668798268698.post-52438115470785954362013-02-21T04:20:01.705-08:002013-02-21T04:20:01.705-08:00Servants are "human, often very human, and th...Servants are "human, often very human, and they should certainly be treated reasonably and their rights respected." From The Woman's Book of Household Management by Florence Jack. She goes on to say that you should say please and thankyou, to servants, and good morning and good night. "A fear of familiarity should never be an excuse for a curt answer..." She also says that education has made the working classes less keen on being servants, and we must move with the times and make their lives more attractive.Lucy R. Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08632983296994349550noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2894424668798268698.post-49282413734733115682013-01-10T00:51:58.826-08:002013-01-10T00:51:58.826-08:00And from a fictional woman in 1880 France you gene...And from a fictional woman in 1880 France you generalise to the whole of 1920s English middle and upper classes? One could even as well argue that Zola highlighted Mme Desforges because she <i>wasn't</i> typical. Or one could simply counter by inferring other fictional works like, well, why not Downton Abbey?<br /><br />Please don't get me wrong - judging from this blog, I think you're a very keen observer; I just think this impression isn't fair. Servants in 1880 or in 1920 didn't have the worst jobs of their times, and they certainly weren't serfs or slaves.Phillip Mindenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16801818752833289089noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2894424668798268698.post-54339080354980079512013-01-09T10:10:34.680-08:002013-01-09T10:10:34.680-08:00"She employed him for these intimate tasks wi..."She employed him for these intimate tasks with her usual scorn for servants, without even looking at him." Shop assistant Mignot is fitting a glove onto the hand of Mme Desforges in Zola's Ladies' Delight, 1880.Lucy R. Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08632983296994349550noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2894424668798268698.post-68574379795548343072013-01-08T15:15:14.053-08:002013-01-08T15:15:14.053-08:00When Charles said, "Why be so polite to serva...When Charles said, "Why be so polite to servants? they don't understand it," she had not given the Schlegel retort of, "If they don't understand it, I do." (Howards End)Lucy R. Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08632983296994349550noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2894424668798268698.post-66810765938535357032013-01-07T04:17:04.934-08:002013-01-07T04:17:04.934-08:00"Employers treated servants as non-people.&qu..."Employers treated servants as non-people." - Where do you get that sort of thing?E. Bainbridgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08272321236461461257noreply@blogger.com