But among parents themselves, I would say that an even greater impulse was the somewhat desperate urge to seek ‘respectability’ above all things. This was at a time when the class system in Britain was very much a tangible thing, and it was perhaps felt that this ‘respectability’ would cause them to be more widely accepted in the upper echelons of society.
Reputation was a precious commodity. Indeed, speaking from just my own experience, I lost count of the number of times I heard the phrase: “What will the neighbours think?”
A Stroke of Respectability2
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