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3.1.11.3 Social and economic factors
** Why consider socio-economic factors?
Superficially, the girls appeared to exist completely in their own little world.
However, closer inspection of "Heavenly Creatures" reveals plenty of evidence
that the girls took careful notice of their environment. Hence, their relationship may
also have been motivated in part by environmental factors, or at least fueled by them, and
not simply by 'internal' factors.
** Where can I read more about this aspect?
A central thesis in Glamuzina and Laurie's analysis of the case is that
socio-economic factors played a big role in the case, though not as large as personal
conditions within the households. For a brief treatment, see their short article quoted in
section 7.8.2. For a more extensive discussion, see their book, described in section
7.7.6. [jp]
** Were family conditions much the same then as
now?
Many families were much harsher on children in the 50s than is the case now and
attitudes were different. Discipline was emphasized and open affection was probably much
less common, as a rule. In my family, my parents were very prudish, especially my mother,
and I wouldn't say that my father (a scientist) was particularly or openly kind to us kids
but, rather, he was very distant and never emotional. I was never praised if I did well
and the minor mistakes anyone makes were always emphasised as needing to be improved. Good
performance at school was always stressed. I was so happy one year when my CGHS school
report was lost in the mail (delivered on a very wet, windy day, but found months later
near an irrigation ditch at the front of our property). I didn't get into the trouble I
was expecting, especially from my father!
** How would being an 'outsider' have affected
Pauline?
It probably meant she had one or, maybe, two close friends and she would have lived
with the fact that making new ones was not going to be easy and, perhaps, not worth the
effort.
** What was unattractive about Pauline's life?
To Pauline, almost everything about her own life was unattractive. The social
situation of her parents was a cause for acute embarrassment on more than one occasion in
"Heavenly Creatures." She hated the poverty that forced her family to take in
boarders. She clearly grew to hold her mother in contempt because Honora had run away from
home with her father, because she was 'stupid' and seemed to be a dull, plodding kind of a
woman and because her mother eventually forced Pauline to contribute financially to the
family. Most of Pauline's criticisms of her family and her mother in particular revolved
around class, status and money. Pauline eventually summed these feelings up in her phrase
"I loathed Mother" and her reasons: "Because she nags me." Juliet
didn't help matters. Clearly, she shared many of Pauline's attitudes about the Riepers,
all the more evident because of her politeness when she was at the Riepers' house. The
scene where Juliet first comes over for tea is a splendid study of class distinction, and
holds many clues about the girls' attitudes to Pauline's lot in life. On the day of the
murder Juliet opines: "Your mother is sort of a miserable woman."
** What was attractive about Pauline's life?
About the only attractive thing in Pauline's life, to Juliet, was the aspect of
'family.' Once she got acclimatized to the Riepers, we see that Juliet actually became
quite comfortable in the Rieper home, the few times she went there. Of course, that might
have been upper-class arrogance, too. It didn't really matter what the little people
thought once it had been determined that they had no power.
** What was attractive about Juliet's life?
To Pauline, Juliet's life looked extremely attractive. First, there were the
obvious material benefits--the beautiful home and gardens, the car, the many possessions
(contrast the way Pauline treated her one, precious Mario Lanza recording and Juliet's
casual spreading of all of hers on the floor). Second, there was the air of intellect that
permeated the Hulme household. These were cultured, refined people, who respected and
encouraged scholarship, imagination and things cerebral. Pauline was obviously a very
bright girl, and she would have shared instinctively many of the sensibilities and
passions of the Hulmes. And the Hulmes, in turn, would have encouraged her because of
their social mores. Remember, Pauline was always a guest in the Hulme's home, so would
have been treated accordingly, especially in the beginning of the friendship. Juliet took
many of the material aspects of her life for granted, but that doesn't mean she didn't
value them. Her parents indulged her shamefully, in fact--we know she had a horse, an
extensive and lavish 'fantasy' wardrobe, and all the accessories of a well-off teenager.
Finally, both girls shared an intense devotion to Dr Hulme, who personified for them
everything that was best about Juliet's world. Pauline, especially, admired him greatly
because of his cool intellect, his even temper and his thoroughly British attribute of
grace under fire.
** Does Pauline actually take notice of these
factors?
Absolutely. Jackson makes this point over and over again: on Pauline's first
stunned viewing of Ilam, the way she stands timidly in the doorway on her first visit, the
way she observes and imitates Hilda Hulme's mannerisms and manners at the dinner table
(the one with real crystal, and good china, and silver cutlery, and candelabras and...).
** What was unattractive about Juliet's life?
To Juliet, many things. But she dealt with these things by ignoring them, or by
flights of fancy to take her away from ugly reality. The most obviously painful thing for
Juliet was the constant threat of separation from her family and their world. So Juliet
did not find the material aspects of her life unattractive, just some of the emotional
ones. Juliet came to feel very threatened by anything which was destabilizing, and she was
decidedly hostile to people who threatened to break up the ideal vision of family to which
she clung so desperately. This included Bill Perry, of course, and her mother, eventually,
though we see a reconciliation in the end. Juliet seemed to have no particular feelings
toward her brother; he was a pesky annoyance, as younger brothers can be. To Pauline,
there was nothing unattractive about Juliet's life. Pauline empathized with Juliet
concerning the things which upset the smooth flow of life in the Hulme household, but just
look at her eyes whenever she was at Ilam. This was what Pauline wanted more than anything
in the world--to be a part of this world. To "travel to Italy and dozens of other
places..."
