There are certain ways or ideas by which we produce and represent our selves as social subjects, these ways are simply called ‘ideologies’ and according to The Penguin Dictionary of Sociology Ideology may be provisionally defined as beliefs, attitudes and opinions which from a set ,whether tightly or loosely related .The term has been used in three important senses: (1)to refer to very specific kinds of belief ;meaning when knowing what we are talking about for example as in green ideology, (2) to refer to beliefs that are in some sense distorted or false; according to Marxism that people cover their selves with false thoughts and have a certain illusion of class about our selves that may in a way blind us to the true nature of our actions ,(3) to refer to any set of beliefs ,covering everything from scientific knowledge ,to religion ,to everyday beliefs about proper conduct ,irrespective of whether it is true or false “ (Abercrombie,1984) ,but having a much simplified definition of ideology actually gives a clear direct understanding to what ideology is as in “Ideologies are the frame works of meanings and interpretation that we use to make sense of the social world around us “(Audio CD3, Track 4 ).
Moreover, there are many different ideologies but they don’t always have the same weight, there are more accepted ideologies than the other but there is no one dominant ideology instead there is a struggle of power among ideologies that is why it is not surprising if there is a struggle in a dialogue among people with different ideologies because they want others to see the word as they see it because ideologies simply concentrate on the meaning of the language not the language it self ,for example a simple English word like ‘black’ does not have the same meaning to both raises and anti-raises .
What does ideology has to do with literature and the way people read and respond to it ? Actually it is impossible for a work of literature not to have an ideological view point of some kind; because ideologies concentrate on the meaning of the word they become a part of any written text simply because literature depends on language so the ideology becomes a dimension inside the text it self and of course a literary text includes many ideologies not just a signal one. Furthermore, literary work basically has three angels one of them is the ideology of the writer that can affect the literary text and be imposed un consciously due to lacking the awareness of influencing a text by personal beliefs ,in other words writers produce social meanings and they can’t help not to because they are humans .Moreover, ideologies are inherently complex and not always passed on concisely held assumptions because any ideology is expressed through language it tends to get naturalized in a way we don’t recognize , so revealing an ideological position with out the author becoming aware of it is in a way common ,so the literary text sometimes can get out of hand and present many indirect ideologies and them comes the third angel represented in the reader who reads the literary text according to personal ideologies or beliefs.
Ideology is not neutral because it is not isolated from society and that writers can sometimes promote a cause deliberately because they are committed to that cause as in the period of the second world war ,in order to affect readers and give theme a sense of patriotism for example ,but sometimes the writer is reveling and un masking how things are operating at that time in order to preserve what he sees as high culture against the threat of mass culture, yet what readers read can’t be controlled and they read and interpret texts as they want because the point is not straight forward , not simplified and readers can be aware to the ideology and have some sense of other lived ideologies of their own but can’t separate them because they are mixed.
All in all, “Fiction opens both to the reader and the writer to going beyond the strict relationship in the real world and get them selves in to fiction because ideology are not just related to the real world but also they are scenario of the real world brings together the description of what it is and the wish of what it aught to be and what aught to be is the fiction (CD3,
Track4)
The literary text doesn’t just reflect the ideology of the writer but also can construct an ideology because our sense of society is constructed through the representations that surround us and literature is one the theses representations. So the reader can take the idea of ‘Englishness’ or what is England from literature.
What is Englishness? According to a paper by a recent graduate from the Master's Program at The Ohio State University, Austin Riede in A Philadelphia Eunuch in Edward Ashburnham's Gunroom: The Talking Cure for Englishness ”It is largely defined by the taciturnity typical of the ‘stiff upper lip’ the laconic endorsement of traditional national assumptions …… Englishness is largely defined by a lack of the necessity for talk….. Englishness is the state of having been indoctrinated into a pervasive code of conduct and manners that governs all public behavior and obviates the discussion of ‘things’ ”(quoted from A Philadelphia Eunuch in Edward Ashburnham's Gunroom: The Talking Cure for Englishness), in other words Englishness as a concept concentrates on special version of England that excludes a lot of amount in the country.
A sense of Englishness and of English identity it seems is discovered residing in Anglo-Saxon mythology; in a tradition of liberalism; in language; in a pragmatic, empirical and individualistic philosophy; in a pipe-smoking, phlegmatic, commonsensical character; and perhaps most notably of all, within the beautiful English countryside. Moreover, Englishness is not something people are born with instead it is acquired and learned then it becomes a mode of living rather than a fixed national identity to give more detailed information about Englishness it is important to adapt E.M. Forster’s Notes on the English Character in which he implies how that “the character of the English is essentially middle –class”( Reader,220) this middle class is the most dominant due to the wealth gained from the Industrial Revolution ,and the Reform Bill of 1832 that gave this class the privilege of having a political power in society .Furthermore, this middle class is characterized by “Solidity, caution, integrity, efficiency, Lack of imagination and also hypocrisy “(Reader, 221) .also this middle-class is characterized by the local public school system what makes this system important is that it is un known to Ireland and almost un known to Scotland ,this public school system teaches English men not to show too much joy or sorrow unless in special occasions.
When analyzing and exploring literary texts in relation to ideology for example Englishness two literary texts of different genres are adapted her, the first one is a short story called Indian Summer of an Uncle by P.G. Wodehouse which mainly concentrates on that Bertram's old Uncle George and his desire to be engaged the wrong woman as he always does and she is a waitress called Rhoda Platt, and as a solution Aunt Agatha sends Bertram to give money to Platt in order to leave his Uncle ,then Bertie meets the waitress's aunt, Mrs. Maude Wilberforce, who turns out to be a former barmaid, formerly engaged to Uncle George. Uncle George and Mrs. Wilberforce become engaged, and the other one is a novel by Evelyn Waugh called Officers and Gentlemen that concentrates on the idealist Guy Crouchback a divorced male in his thirties, who obeys the call of his country and goes to war then at the End he relies that what he believes all his life as true may not be accepted in the real life anymore.
The previous two literary texts share common features of Englishness as an ideology, for example both protagonists Bertram Wilberforce and Guy Crouchback are associated to certain group of people or class that excludes other people of the country, Bertram Wilberforce in Indian Summer of an Uncle is a minor British aristocrat and member of the idle rich and a member in the Drones’ club in London, Bertram has a first-rate British establishment education at Eton and Oxford University. And in the other hand Guy Crouchback in Officers and Gentlemen is from aristocratic Anglo Catholic family and also a member of the Turtle’s club in London, who joins the army always wearing his full blue uniform. All in all both protagonists are very proud to be associated to certain privileged group of people that others are excluded from.
Moreover, the language which is used by both protagonists indicates clues to good upbringing by being a correct English language, for example Bertram Wilberforce uses slang that is only associated to a certain class such as “it is dashed difficult to deceive ”( The Prose Anthology,15) , “she buzzed off”( The Prose Anthology,28), Bertram is also good in using French “the grand dame of the old regime” ”( The Prose Anthology,20) .Furthermore , Jeeves is also a member of a club, called the Junior Ganymede Club, a club for butlers and valets, in whose club book all members must write down all the wrongdoings of their employers , Jeeves is well known for his precise speech and for quoting from the plays of Shakespeare and famous romantic poets “”These little acts of unremembered kindness””(The Prose Anthology,28).In Officers and Gentlemen Guy Crouchback also employs correct English language in good use when expressing his ideas for example when saying :” I’ve come home under a cloud” (Officers and Gentlemen,11) ,and in another example “yes, indeed ….. thank you very much .I was taken to luncheon there today” (Officers and Gentlemen,107).
Englishness circles around excluding what is not related to the English character characteristics, for example lower class people as in Bertram’s words “My God! The proletariat! “(The Prose Anthology,17) , Bertram doesn’t want his Uncle George to be remotely related to a poor waitress Rhoda Platt thinking that she is mainly a gold digger “I gather that miss Platt is not of the nobless”(The Prose Anthology,17) .Furthermore, being too friendly and informal with the servants is also not an English character characteristics and it is shown when Aunt Agatha says “And are you seriously suggesting that we should discuss this intimate family matter with your manservant?“(The Prose Anthology,20), and also when Bertram says :” make it snappy .Think on your feet” (The Prose Anthology, 27).Moreover, Uncle George relationship to miss Platt is un acceptable in society which really embarrasses his sister Agatha but he finally settles down with Maude Wilberforce ,who is a woman according to Jeeves of “sturdy middle-class stock ” (The Prose Anthology,35) but that marriage pleases Agatha only because it keeps up appearances .In Officers and Gentlemen Guy Crouchback who proudly sees England above all does not appreciate Ludovic ,who saves his life in the war due to Ludovic’s personal interest in homosexuality and Communism and that his loyalty will always be to Communism before England .Moreover, Guy Crouchback does not appreciate Trimmer who speaks with a cockney accent and an owner of a very deceiving character .Not to mention that when Guy Crouchback chooses wife to settle down with he takes a daughter of an old Catholic family because she is equal to his standard .
Believing that “England is the country and the country is England “ (Baldwin,1937,11) is an important feature of Englishness and it is clearly shown in naming England and London and showing the great civilization that they both enjoy having .In Indian Summer of an Uncle names like the Drones’ club in London ,Piccadilly ,Pall Mall , St James’s Street , the Burlington Arcade, Wistaria Lodge, Kitchener Road ,the Criterion and also East Dulwich . In Officers and Gentlemen names are mentioned like for example England, Turtle’s Club, Piccadilly, the blaza, Victoria Station, Bellamy. Naming places especially in England and London in particular in side literary texts simply indicates how proud the authors feel towards their lands. In other words, The English countryside, a landscape of small towns and cathedral cities, of cricket pitches and village pubs, of ruined castles and abbeys, of rolling hills and meandering streams became the emblem and the quintessence of Englishness and was able to impose itself directly and indirectly in literature
Englishness demands that that an English man must not express his great joy or sorrow in a loud way and that he must not even open his mouth too wide when he talks because his pip might fall ;that is why in the short story Indian Summer of an Uncle, Uncle George’s behavior of wanting to marry Miss Platt is outrageous and that he always makes engagements with unsuitable females, all of whom are far too young for him; like the barmaid at the Criterion Theatre, then miss Rhoda Platt, another barmaid. Causing a great deal of embarrassment to his sister Agatha, who believes very strongly in keeping up appearances and the marriage of nobility ,in fact she declares that her brother is mad “I am sorry to tell you my brother has gone mad,”(The Prose Anthology,19). In Officers and Gentlemen Guy Crouchback is simply decided to live in Italy in his family villa shunning the world after a bad marriage to Virginia Troy.
Englishness is actually gendered by giving males more privilege than women, but in the short story Indian Summer of an Uncle women have much dominant power then men represented by aunt Agatha who is Bertie Wooster's least favorite aunt , he doesn’t have a great opinion of her “Aunt Agatha, the one who kills rats with her teeth “(The Prose Anthology,21), in fact he tries to avoid her as much as he can yet he always finds himself needing her help as when he seeks her help in order to put some sense in to his Uncle George’s head who wants to marry Miss Platt . The feeling between both Aunt Agatha and Bertram is mutual because she is also does not think highly of him and considers him a burden on society. In Officers and Gentlemen male bonding is very important among male characters there is the male bonding between Guy Crouchback and Tommy Blackhouse represented by drinking together as brother due to their marriage to the same woman who is Virginia Troy “men who loved the same woman are blood brothers (Officers and Gentlemen,68).Also there is another male bonding and good friendship between Guy Crouchback and his deceased friend Apthorpe whom Guy Crouchback gives him a promise in giving his things to a certain man and he keeps his promise. When it comes to females we find for example the character of Virginia Troy who marries Guy Crouchback then marries Tommy Blackhouse then she carries Trimmer’s child who at the end get adopted by Guy Crouchback after her sudden death.
Nostalgia is an important feature to Englishness and it is adapted in literary works especially patriotic ones like Waugh’s Officers and Gentlemen, there is a moment when Guy Crouchback stands to look at a perfect ceremonial sword that is made to be presented to the Soviet Union in recognition of the sacrifices against the Nazis. Before being sent to Moscow, it is put on display to the British public in Westminster, while looking to this sword, Guy Crouchback recalls his memories of the war and become nostalgic to the old days of chivalry and that this time is not his time it is a time to Trimmer’s kind who is shallow and manipulative .
Patriotism shapes the English character in Englishness making that unique outstanding proud identity of Englishness. For example in Officers and Gentlemen Guy Crouchback has no second thoughts of answering the king’s call and he became a soldier due to his solid belief of England but on the other hand there is the character of Ivor Claire who simply flees from the army and finds it an act of honour and courage saying that “the path of honour lies up the hill”(Officers and Gentlemen ,221) and that is the last meeting between Guy and Ivor but before that Ivor fakes illness and goes to stay in a private nursing home in order not to go to war , which really proves that Englishness is more of an acquired and learned feature rather than something people are born with , because both Guy Crouchback and Ivor Claire are English men and they are both in the army yet Englishness is only associated with the patriotic Guy Crouchback .
The army as an institution is full of rules and regulations following certain code of conduct that comes along with all the uniforms and obedience, the army also represents bravery and Patriotism ,in short the army as a community or as an institution involves a lot of rules and codes that are shared and fascinated excluding people who are not in the army and these codes become a way of living accepted as natural not fixed ,for example when saying ‘blue uniforms ‘ or ‘brown uniforms ‘the first one is for the navy and the second one is for the army but it is difficult to recognize that unless if a person is familiar or a part of the army . In a way maybe Evelyn Waugh in his novel Officers and Gentlemen tries to present Englishness in a frame of the army institution maybe due to the shared features between them in including certain code of conducts “Englishness is the state of having been indoctrinated into a pervasive code of conduct and manners that governs all public behavior”(quoted from A Philadelphia Eunuch in Edward Ashburnham's Gunroom: The Talking Cure for Englishness), not to mention that both the army and Englishness features are acquired , learned and fixed not something people are born with yet they become natural as an accepted way of living .
In conclusion, ideologies are normal human characteristics that shape our beliefs and ideas and in away influences our way of responding to certain literary texts not to mention that writing a text can also be influenced indirectly by the author’s ideology. Ideologies are unconscious and appear even if people are not aware of that and they become natural and accepted as normal way of living. Englishness is one ideology that is being adapted as a way of living among people excluding others who don’t belong to it yet it is acquired and learned yet it can affect the writing of texts and the way people read them.
Any comments ??
