Posted by Peter Ceresole on June 05, 2004 at 13:52:11 from 80.177.22.49 user PeterC.
In Reply to: Terror of the Seas polite and well behaved? posted by andy bolger on June 04, 2004 at 23:45:28:
Personally, I'm all in favour of polite and well mannered children, although the other sort, perhaps make more entertaining subjects for works of fiction
But they *are* polite and good mannered- extremely so. They are only 'bohemian' in the context of their immediate families or their protected circle of friends. And everybody knows a Nancy, to some degree; if they don't, then they've missed one of the more interesting features of life. I was so pleased to find that, at the age of twelve, my elder daughter had fired one of her tutors (extra Chemistry on Saturdays) and hired another without reference to us. And pocketed one week's tutor's fees due to the hiatus. She deserved it... So it wasn't on the high sees, but it was a perfect piece of piracy. It worked too- she passed the exam.
I approved. She later went into journalism. Make of that what you will. But the politeness and good manners were deployed to good effect in persuading contributors to come on board. The middle classes have always known how to do charm- it's why the bourgeoisie are the victors of history.
By the time AR was writing, his views on education, at least as far as they are implicit in his fiction, were becoming quite mainstream- were in fact in line with 'modern' views on bringing up children. Their antithesis, the 'Victorian' model, is nicely satirised in his picture of the GA. But he's quite clear as to which model he prefers- and in the closing pages of PM, even Maria Turner is redeemed as a deep down Nancy.