Quote:
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Originally Posted by The Saucepan Man
This distinctly un-class-conscious middle class Englishman rather agrees.  |
Aye, spoken as only a modern middle-class Englishman could
Still, I suppose claiming that the classes do not matter any more helps negate the possibility of social fax pas involving garden gnomes, napkins and what you call the toilet, front room and settee. That's why one Tony Blair claims we now live in a meritocracy where class does not matter; this may be fine in The River Cafe but he might find otherwise as he folds his napkin up after a midday-meal* in the Dorchester. :P
*this being a nice bland corporate term we could use instead, when it comes time for the next edition of LotR, so as not to confuse readers from more egalitarian societies on t'other side of t'pond, t'channel, t'watford gap and t'40% income tax bracket.
Funny how nothing seems to ruffle feathers more these days when you bring up class and language in discussion, yet nevertheless, despite the metrosexual tendencies of the modern reader, Tolkien was a product of a class-conscious society and was well aware of the issue. You only have to read the first couple of chapters of The Hobbit to discover a fabulous and gentle satire on middle-class mores, and that's just the beginning of Tolkien's use of the class structure in his work.