Posted by Andy Morley on 02/01/00 from 62.136.234.25 via proxy webcacheH06a.cache.pol.co.uk:
In Reply to: Re: Attagirl, Prue! posted by Iain Hobbs on February 01, 2000 at 08:51:09:
> Nothing fictional about the bust-up between Nancy and Peggy
> and the Amazons, Why else did AR snub them in the credits to SA?
How familiar are you with the concept of satire Iain..?
Tom Sharpe is at the extreme end of the satirical spectrum, but I reckon that AR was a bit of a satirist too. The Great Aunt obviously stood for establishment authority and Victorian values while Missuses Blackett and Walker were portrayed as having an enlightened approach to child rearing by '30s standards.
Colonel Jolys and his merry men have an almost Bachanalian feel about them, or perhaps something akin to "The Wild Hunt" of Herne the Hunter. Could AR have been poking fun at some aspect of his contemporary society here..? I rather suspect that he might. Depicting girls like Nancy and Peggy was certainly subversive, as you might expect from someone who married Trotsky's secretary.
And yet AR was in awe of the establishment too. There's that story of him turning very pink in some situation or other to do with his joining a nobby yot club. Even the Queen bought his books. I think he was a satirist, but a very subtle one.
Andy Morley
http://www.morley45.freeserve.co.uk