Low People and High People

Since I am presenting on the Norton’s material on “Low People and High People” in our upcoming class period, I am going to review some of the tensions alive during the time between high and low people.

            Between the people of high class and the people of lower class ranking, there was a lot of social and even political tension during the 17^th century.  The nobility and people of wealth lived very different lifestyles than the bulk of the population that lived as laborers, craftsmen, and field workers. The 17^th century literary author Henry Fielding, in his work, “A Dissertation Concerning High People and Low People,” defines high people as “people of fashion,” dressing themselves in the fashions of the times, and describes low people, or commoners, as, “people of no fashion,” (2438).  Throughout society during this time, there were clear distinctions among the people because of their material possessions and their work life.  Fielding also describes their lifestyles as very different through an explanation of the places each group possesses.  People of fashion “seized several places of their own use, such as courts, assemblies, opera, balls, etc.,” (Fielding 2438).  In contrast, the lower people “have been in constant possession of all hops, fairs, revels, etc.,” (Fielding 2438-2439).  Due to their very different lifestyles, and, as Fielding shows, the different areas that they inhibit, people of high and low class hardly relate to each other at all, causing a rising tension.  Fielding describes this lack of connection, as, “so far from looking at each other as brethren in the same Christian language, they seem scarce to regard each other as of the same species,” (2439).   This lack of familiarity led to a societal distance between the classes, which in turn led to name calling such as, “strange persons,” and, “wretches,” and overall distrust and suspicion of the opposite group. 

            Fortunately, at the turn of the 16^th century and into the 17^th century, commoners began to publish works that caught the attention of wealthy nobles and patrons—some examples being Matthew Prior, Stephen Duck, and Mary Collier.  Once these commoners’ publications got out into society, the voices of the working class was finally heard and began to be more respected among higher ranked citizens of England.   

Work Cited:

Fielding, Henry. “A Dissertation Concerning High People and Low People,” The History of the Adventures of Joseph Andrews. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt, George H. Logan, Katharine E. Maus, and Barbara K. Lewalski. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ninth ed. Vol. B. New York: W.W. Norton, 2012. Print.