The flawless performance of roles is a pretty good definition of etiquette. Mrs. Post said over and over that "character" mattered far more than "trivialities of deportment" when it came to correct manners. Yet she kept faith with traditional social hierarchies... She was so companionable with her maid, for instance, that they used to go to the movies together, arm in arm, then out for ice cream. But at dinnertime, Hilda ate in the servants' quarters, and Mrs. Post sat at the dining table alone.
I read that review weeks ago and the image of the woman eating alone at a big table stuck with me as particularly sad. Certainly she would've enjoyed herself more if she'd flipped convention the bird and invited her maid to the table. Sometimes I'm too much of a slave to decorum too. For example, I feel guilty staying in bed past a certain hour on the weekend, even if there's no one home and I have nothing to do.
Then again, I did marry a dude, so I guess it balances out.
4 comments:
I love her. Are you kidding? It's my dream to be friends with my maid and then eat dinner alone (see also: Blair Waldorf and Derota).
Haha. So Tom of you.
But it's a good point. I almost want to re-write this whole post with my fledgling appreciation of Gossip Girl in mind.
Plus, having the table empty would make it easier for Nate Archibald to throw me onto it.
I was going to leave a note saying that this entry cracked me up, but now I need to add that your Gossip Girling has made me laugh too.
The one episode I saw portrayed actress Blake Lively (no idea what her character's name is) as the evil bitch of the group. I didn't like that, after knowing her only as the cheery lust-for-life character from Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants.
Not to worry. Serena van der Woodsen is only (sorry to ruin a bit of Season 2 for you Ben) an evil bitch for a few episodes. Then she goes back to being nice again. Her role requires fewer soccer balls, dead moms, and statutory rapes than in the Sisterhood though.
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