Journal
Article Analysis: “A Bookkeeper Not an
Accountant”:
Representing the
Middle Class from Victorian Novels and
Music-Hall Songs
to Television Sitcoms by Scott D.
Banville
In an article
published in The Journal of Popular Culture in 2011, called “A Bookkeeper Not an Accountant”: Representing
the Middle Class from Victorian Novels and Music-Hall Songs to Television
Sitcoms by Scott Banville, it states that television sitcoms such as Everybody Loves Raymond and BBC’s Are You Being Served appear to be drawn
“upon notions of representing the lower middle class first developed and
circulated by Victorian novels, periodical literature, and music-hall sketches
and songs.” Not necessarily that their origins come from music-hall songs or
Victorian novels but that these shows are “historical resonances of Victorian
cultural practices” (Banville, 2011). Are these two sitcoms really taken
from Victorian entertainment or literature? Let’s review the article and
determine for ourselves.
One of the reasons for basing these
two sitcoms off of Victorian representations of the lower middle class is to
provide the audience with situations and characters that are easily recognized.
In Are You Being Served, Captain
Stephen Peacock, who is a floor walker for a men’s department store, is shown
as a man with self-importance. He portrays what Victorian music-halls ridicule
as the cad, gent, or swell with his aloof manner and pretensions to a status he
is not actually entitled too. In fact “Captain” Peacock was only a lowly
corporal in the Royal Army Service Corps during World War II (Banville, 2011).
Mr. Lucas, a shop assistant in Are You Being Served, is also portrayed as the cad, gent, or swell
with his obsession with dress and deportment. One characteristic of the cad,
gent, or swell that Victorian commentators focus on is the counterfeit nature.
In Vest Tilley’s song “Sidney’s Holidays”, a young shop assistant poses as a
wealthy middle-class family man while wooing a certain young lady. Later, he is
exposed when she finds him behind a shop counter in London. Mr. Lucas spends
his time drinking and carousing much like the life Dicken’s David Copperfield must reject if he is
to “achieve” hero status (Banville, 2011).
In the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, Banfield writes
that Victorian stereotypes were drawn upon the lower middle class when creating
the characters, situations, and plots. Victorian music-hall songs often focused
on “the domestic plight of the lower-middle-class man and his relationship with
his mother-in-law”. However, in this sitcom the roles are reversed where it is
Debra Barone who has to deal with the meddling of her mother-in-law. In the
Victorian novel, The Diary of a Nobody, the
main character Charles Pooter is happy and content to live a lower-middle-class
life. Pooter’s senior, Mr. Perkupp, attended one of the parties that Pooter
held at his home. At first Pooter was nervous and a bit embarrased but Mr.
Perkupp enjoyed the lower society of the people who attended the party. In Everybody Loves Raymond, you also find
the pride and love for the suburban life and the “celebration of the domestic” (Banville, 2011).
I found this article to be logically organized and backed
up with a lot of research and examples. However, I found it difficult to follow
as it appeared to jump from one subject matter to another. I thought we were
talking about one person, only to find that we were back on another one. I had
to continuously go back and re-read sections to find the author’s point. The
author also used many unfamiliar examples of songs etc. to prove his point. The
only one I had ever heard of was David
Copperfield. I also looked up the definition of “cad, gent, or
swell”. Cad is an “ill-bred man, especially one who behaves in a dishonorable or
irresponsible way towards women” (cad). Gent is short for “gentleman” (gent). And, swell, used as an adjective, is defined
as “fashionably dressed or socially prominent” (swell).
I agree that Are You Being Served, could have very possibly been based on
Victorian entertainment or literature. As noted throughout the article, the
cad, gent, and swell was adequately portrayed in the sitcom. Captain Peacock
and Mr. Lucas were both obsessed with their dress and Captain Peacock was quite
stuffy and tried to instill on the others that he was better than lower
middle-class. The sitcom was based on making fun of the British class system as
is shown by their conversations between the characters which ranged from the
higher-class personnel all the way down to the maintenance crew.
However, I am not
sure I agree with Everybody Loves Raymond
being based on Victorian entertainment or literature. From almost the very
beginning of history, it is pretty likely that many people have had problems
with their mother-in-laws. Also, from the beginning of history, there have been
a variety of different class systems. Those who were wise would have accepted
being a lower middle-class citizen with pride and made their lives the better
for it. Yes, Victorian entertainment or literature may have poked fun at or
glamorized these two scenarios but who’s to say that Everybody Loves Raymond is not based on another era instead.
I would have to say, overall, that this article could be
considered important. When watching a show, especially a sitcom, it is usually
more entertaining when you know what the characters are poking fun at and the origins
that the comedy is based on. When going to bed at night, my husband would often
turn the channel to watch Are You Being
Served, and until reading this article, I just figured it was just another
silly British sitcom. I really could not see any sense in it especially when
they would dress up in funny outfits for some kind of marketing scheme.
However, after reading this article, the show makes more sense to me. I can see
where and why it has been based on Victorian entertainment or literature. It
appears to have run many seasons and was quite popular with the British
audience.
References
Banville,
S. D. (2011). "A Bookkeeper, Not an Accountant": Representing the
Lower
Middle Class fromVictorian Novels and Music-Hall Songs to Television
Sitcoms. The Journal of Popular Culture,
16-36.
