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SOCIAL STATUS, 1: Both authors present different character' views on…
SOCIAL STATUS
Durbeyfields are a powerful emblem of the way in which class is no longer evaluated in Victorian times as it could have been in the Middle Ages
previously by blood alone, with no attention paid to fortune or worldly success
the durbeyfields undoubtedly have purity of blood, but this fact serves no true need/importance
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the confusion of Angel, Tess and Alec regarding their social statuses is a main concern of the novel
Suns: contrarily, characters' concern for their reputation is shown more evidently, suggesting a regression in society's view/prejudices on class and status
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the unjust nature of Tess' misfortune is based on her underclass position, as well as her gender
context: women = most socially inferior within the patriarchy. and Tess' demise was exacerbated by her status
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Liza Lu is pure and virginal and so Angel asks her to marry him; Tess used to be regarded similarly (ironic), but to victorian readers she is a 'maiden no more'
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in Afghan society, women are views as having low status and being undeserving of high levels of respect
'harami' = less of a castaway derogatory comment and more of a viewpoint for how Afghan society sees women
Nana: abandoned by Jalil, disowned by her father, isolated from society, whereas jail blamed the affair on Nana and continued living a prosperous life while Nana had to deal with the aftermath of the shame and abuse from society
"You think you matter to him, that you're wanted in his house?"
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Nana prevents Mariam from an education, even though at the time women could be educated, saying "they will call her a harami"
context: Afghani Caste system, a division of society based on the differences of wealth, inherited rank or privilege, places M+N at the bottom of its social hierarchy
mud + clay kolba: alludes to the little value Nana holds in life as a result of being rejected by society
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"what's the sense in schooling a girl like you? It's like shining a shitspoon": education is useless to Mariam, particularly prior to Soviet modernisation of Afghanistan
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1: Both authors present different character' views on social status in Tess and Suns. However, while characters in Suns show clear concern for their status and reputation, in Tess, Hardy presents the changing views on social class and status in Victorian England and shows how characters respond
'I do hate the aristocratic principle of blood before everything' (XXX, 188)
"It is a fact of some interest to the local historian and genealogist, nothing more" (I, 9)
"Goddamn it, Mariam, don't do this to me" (7, 49)
'this was the first time that she was deciding the course of her own life' (45, 341)
"I'll beat you until your mother's milk leaks out of your bones" (42, 313)
2: Both authors also depict the repercussions faced by characters as a result of their lowly social status. Both texts also display characters like Tess and Mariam's gender as exacerbating this suffering
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3: Lastly, both authors show how social status has he power to determine a person's respectability. In Tess, Hardy uses Alec's character to show how wealth is the most significant sign of status, while in Suns, Hosseini uses the Afghani Caste system to present how status influences a person's approval by society
'rich crimson colour' of the lodge (V, 38)
'everything on this snug property was bright, thriving, and well kept ... everything looked like money'
'This one was the youngest of the three. He spoke quickly and with emphatic, arrogant confidence' (355, ch 47)
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conclusion: moral worth shouldn't be defined by social status, exposing the inequitable structures of a patriarchal society