Today we might smile as perhaps Woolf's readers were expected to smile. After all, one is expected to be progressive and perfectly comfortable about discussing water-closets.
From water-closets, Woolf moves on to other radical trends we easily recognise today. No tattoos yet though.
And then this taking out a stick of rouge, or a powder-puff and making up in public. On board ship coming home there were lots of young men and girls—Betty and Bertie he remembered in particular—carrying on quite openly; the old mother sitting and watching them with her knitting, cool as a cucumber. The girl would stand still and powder her nose in front of every one. And they weren’t engaged; just having a good time; no feelings hurt on either side. As hard as nails she was—Betty What’shername—; but a thorough good sort. She would make a very good wife at thirty—she would marry when it suited her to marry; marry some rich man and live in a large house near Manchester.
2 comments:
Captured by the famous quote:
“The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.”
― L.P. Hartley, The Go-Between
I'll argue that peoples' behaviour is determined by their genetics, their upbringing, and their social community. And how their response to an 'event' includes all this backstory, even if much of it is not conscious.
As a result you can come to see that each generation differs until it becomes almost impossible to 'get inside the head' of an earlier ancestor.
It is probably a mistake to think that 'morality', or religious beliefs, or 'standards' are fixed and unchangeable - for a careful review of history shows they are not.
Just look at politics.
DJ - "I'll argue that peoples' behaviour is determined by their genetics, their upbringing, and their social community."
I agree and we do see in politics, particularly the difficulty we have in turning round obviously damaging trends. There is nothing fundamental to stop damaging trends, but what we are seeing now is escape behaviour. Smart people leave.
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