Comment closely on the following passage from An Englishman’s Home, considering ways in which it portrays the society of the village.
In ‘An Englishman’s Home’, Waugh relies on ironic juxtaposition, satirical humour and a distancing third person narrative to exploit the snobby, pompous behaviour of the higher-class as well as point out their ridiculous tactics in trying to be considered as rural folk and respected by the villagers. However, he also makes the reader feel sympathy for the lonely and insecure sad people these highborn people actually are.
Firstly, in this extract, Waugh depicts the society of the villager as being dominated by unpleasant and snobby high-class landowners. The character Mr Metcalfe – a rich landowner with seven acres, is arrogant and pompous – calling his own mansion after himself because ‘it suggest[s] a primacy in the village that was not undisputed’ (here, we can see that the villagers probably find him as pompous as the reader as they do not leave his show-off move ‘undisputed’). He also speaks degradingly of ‘the vicar, who had a plebeian accent and an inclination to speak against bankers’, revealing his true feelings about low-class folk – especially those who criticize people of his class. Lady Peabury is also ‘rather greedy’ and Colonel Hodge is two-faced – accepting Mr Metcalfe’s invitation to dinner but calling him in the privacy of ‘his family circle’ ‘the cotton wallah’. The reader can sense that there is tension amongst this highborn community of landowners through the juxtaposition between the egotistical and unpleasant personalities of the landowners vs. their beautiful well-tended gardens (‘plump herd enriching the landscape’ ‘splendour of her flower gardens’. Here Waugh Reveals a deep irony – these landowners try to perfect their reputation through physical things, represented by their beautiful gardens but under the surface, they are ugly in character and have no beauty unlike their gardens.
Furthermore, in addition to criticizing the landowners’ attempts to paint themselves as perfect when they are the opposite in spirit, Waugh also uses humour to amuse the reader and point out the ridiculous lifestyles of these landowners and their pretence to know everything about rural life, when ironically most ‘came to Much Malock from abroad’. Indeed the villagers, real rural folk, still see them as ‘newcomers’ even if twenty years had passed which suggest the landowners know nothing about the village despite their obsession to be part of ‘one of the most unspoilt Cotswold villages’. This is also amusing – the landowners think they are part of the village society but they are regarded as completely clue-less people by the villagers who refuse to comply to their silly rules such as refusing to call Mr Metcalfe’s mansion by a purposefully grand name ‘the Hall’ which Mr Metcalfe ‘observes with regret’ for himself really. Waugh also uses a third person narrative so the reader feels less personal with the society and can step back and see them how they are: completely ridiculous. Mr Metcalfe uses negative language with connotations of crimes or serious wrongdoing ‘perverse’ ‘downright wrong’, building up tension, and then it turns out he is simply commenting on ‘an investment which showed a bare two per cent yield on his capital’ – something which seems completely unimportant and the opposite of ‘perverse’ to the reader. There is another use of satirical irony to poke fun at these landowners: Colonel Hodge is ‘Lord Lieutenant’ and ‘active in the affairs of the British legion and the Boy Scouts’ with the juxtaposition between his involvement in the army and a local village children’s activity showing how he treats a small local club with the same way he treats his work in the British army – thus ridiculing the landowners’ desperate superfluous attempts to live real rural lifestyles and fit in with the rural village society.
However, despite portraying the villagers as ridiculous and obsessed with futile things, Waugh also portrays them as insecure. Their ‘fine gabled house[s]’, ‘acres of meadowland’ etc. are symbolic of their attempt to build strong exteriors for themselves but inside, they are unsure of their own success and totally self-doubting. Mr Metcalfe adds small, hesitant justifications at the end of some of his bolder statement: ‘a landowner in a rather small way’ ‘seven acres, more or less’. He also finds himself ‘congratulating himself’ which is actually a quite tragic image despite also revealing his arrogance – there is no-one else congratulating him, not even his rich gentry who are all actually unpleasant people and especially not the villagers. Waugh is suggesting that the society of high-class people is actually a rather sad, lonely one. The dichotomy between the villagers and the landowners emphasises this – they may think they are part of the local village society but they aren’t really and they are completely unaware of the ridiculous way they are perceived in by the local folk. It also appears Mr Metcalfe has learnt the professional description of his ‘dignified Georgian house’ off by heart – the long, list-like syntax of the sentences would echo how much he values this house. It is his shield against the world, against his peevish neighbours, his only way of proving himself.
In conclusion, Waugh portrays the society of the village as a rather two-sided one at face-value, with the villagers viewing the landowners as ridiculous, self-obsessed people, but at a closer glance, a more divided one with tension and back-stabbing running high amongst the high-class society. He also paints a rather bleak image of the ironic isolation and insecurity in these high-class communities whose members try so hard to make it look like their lives are perfect when they are the opposite. Another technique he depicts the village society with which could have been further explored – the apparent witty intelligent nature and lucid perspective of the poorer, local villager in contrast to the rather stupid, self-centred landowners.