The Place of the Nanny in British Society

MASARYK UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF EDUCATION

Department of English Language and Literature

Mary Poppins and British society

Bachelor Thesis

Brno 2012

Author: Supervisor: Pavlína Matoušková Mgr. Lucie Podroužková, Ph.D.

Declaration

Hereby I declare that I have compiled this thesis on my own and all the sources of information used in the diploma thesis are listed in the references.

Brno, 9 December 2012 ………………………..

Pavlína Matoušková

Acknowledgement

I would like to express my thanks to my supervisor Mgr. Lucie Podroužková, Ph.D. for her kind advice and valuable feedback.

Content

Introduction ...... 5 Life of P.L. Travers with emphasis on resemblance with Mary Poppins ...... 6 The film version of Mary Poppins ...... 8 Historical background ...... 9 The class differences ...... 12 Education ...... 16 Work ...... 17 Housing ...... 19 Entertainment ...... 21

The position of women in the British society ...... 23 The suffrage movement ...... 25

The upbringing ...... 28 Toys ...... 32 Punishment ...... 33

Conclusion: ...... 35 Bibliography ...... 37

Introduction

The Edwardian era took just a short period of British history, but nevertheless had an enormous impact on many aspects of life. This thesis sets out to show the era as a transitional time when some Victorian values carried on but other values underwent major changes. These changes were not only in fashion, leisure and technology, but also in more important topics of class differences, women‟s rights, and upbringing. The society was transformed in all these areas immensely. It was an era of nannies and governesses and for that reason the theses displays the changes that took place on the background of the story of one of the most famous nannies of all times, Mary Poppins. The story of this fictional character gives us opportunity to look not only at working conditions, social reforms and suffrage movement but also at state of mind of people involved. The story also unfolds the impact different attitude has during life difficulties on people‟s lives and how different ways of upbringing shape a personality. The thesis begins with the details of life of P.L. Travers, an author of the narrative, since it played an important part in her writing and as such deserves a short chapter at the beginning of this work. Historical background of the era follows in the successive chapter to introduce the situation in England in 1910, when the story takes place. Main focus of the work will be given to three chapters analyzing the society from the point of view of class differences, the position of women in the society and British childhood and upbringing as reflected in the book. As the main source the film is used but as there are different versions of the story the books are used as a complementary source where certain aspects of society are more distinct.

Life of P.L. Travers with emphasis on resemblance with Mary Poppins

Helen Lyndon Goff was born in Australia in 1899 to a family of Travers Robert Goff, who worked as a bank manager. Being a heavy drinker, he died when Lyndon was only seven years old. Lyndon moved to her aunt Ellie, who lived in Bowral, together with her mother Margaret Morehead Goff and two younger sisters. A shocking experience came when Lyndon was ten years old. Her mother decided to commit suicide and before she left she put Pamela in charge of two of her younger sisters. Pamela, herself only a child, tried to consolidate her siblings during her absence by making up stories. Although her mother failed to kill herself and returned home unharmed Pamela felt both her parents abandoned her. The abandonment Lyndon felt when her father died and her mother tried to commit suicide affected her opinion on family life. The topic of children neglected by their parents is one of the main themes of the story about Mary Poppins (Bayliss). In her eyes there was no reliable adult person in her proximity other than Aunt Ellie, whose strict behavior masked her kindness. As a result she made her the chief character of Mary Poppins, who could very similarly seem strict with the children, lets them experience scary things to make them behave, but at the same time looks after them to make them return safely from the journey. Other characters are created on the basis of her childhood acquaintances and relatives. While still in Sydney she changed her name to Pamela Lyndon Travers, joined a traveling Shakespeare company and contributed to several newspapers and magazines. In 1924 she traveled to England where she hoped to pursue her career as a writer. While in London she wrote some poems to the Irish statement. The journal‟s editor, George Russell was later the person who suggested that Pamela should write about a witch. The idea appealed to her and the first story about Mary Poppins and the Match man was written in 1926. When she was ill in 1933 and was confined to bed she extended the story about an unusual English nanny and by 1988 there were eight books written about the very same character (Hazel). The books were so well written that Walt Disney became interested in making a film based on them. Although he tried hard to convince Pamela to sell him the rights she wasn‟t willing to do so and it took him fifteen years to convince her. One of the conditions under which she agreed was a co-operation on the script.

When the film was released in 1964 the premier at Grauman‟s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood Walt Disney made a spectacular show out of it. Famous film stars arrived in luxury dresses and Walt Disney himself arrived in a stretch limousine greeted by the Disney characters in a grand style (Flanagen). P.L. Travers was not invited. She had to ask for an invitation. While everybody seemed happy, she was heartbroken. She felt the plot was changed into a completely different story with changes in characters that she didn‟t approve of and an animated scene was included although she told Walt Disney she didn‟t want it there. As a result of her disappointment she sold her theatrical rights to Cameron Mackintosh in 1994 hoping he would make a different version of the story about Mary Poppins. The first musical was seen at the Prince Edward Theatre in London‟s West End production in 2004 and it varied again from both previous adaptations. There are songs from the Walt Disney film used as well as new songs by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe. (Program městského divadla Brno).

The film version of Mary Poppins

“Wind's in the east, mist comin' in. Like something is brewin' about to begin Can't put me finger on what lies in store But I feel what's to happen, all happened before.” (Mary Poppins)

The Banks family lives in Nr. 17 Cherry Tree Lane. Their lives are rather ordinary and there is nothing special going on in their household. Mr. Banks goes to work every day leaving the household and children to Mrs. Banks who is helped by several servants. Their children, Michael and Jane, spend most of their time with nannies and try to gain their parents‟ attention by tormenting each and every one of them. A change comes when yet another nanny leaves and an advertisement for her successor is formulated by the desperate parents. The kids present their own version asking for a nanny with difference. In no time Mary Poppins arrives from the sky with the help of her parrot-head umbrella. She takes charge of the children straight away helping them with cleaning the room and taking them to a park. The following day they go to meet Mary‟s old friend Bert and together they jump in one of his chalk drawings to find themselves in an animated world in which Mary Poppins wins a derby. Another adventure takes them to pay visit to Mary‟s Uncle Albert who floats at the ceiling in a fit of laughter. When they recount their happenings to their father he gets angry and tries to tell Mary Poppins off. Instead of letting herself being fired she hustles Mr. Banks into believing he came up with the idea of taking the children to the bank he works in. Several misunderstandings during the trip result in Mr. Banks being fired. As a result he realizes he has more to live for apart from his work, mends the children‟s kite and the whole family goes to fly it in the park. There they meet the bankers who also reappraise their values and offer Mr. Banks a new position of a partner. The story ends with Mary Poppins leaving. Her service is no longer needed. The children will be looked after by their parents in the future.

Historical background

According to one of the songs Mary Poppins is set in 1910 which was an Edwardian era. Although the title “Edwardian” suggests that it was the era of reign of Edward VII it is not understood equally by everyone. Some historians extend the period and add in it also the years from 1880 to 1901 when Edward held the title Prince of Wales since he represented the elite of that age at that time and other historians include also the years 1910 – 1918. (Holland) Edward VII proved to have rather lighter attitude to his responsibilities as a monarch in comparison with his mother, Queen Victoria. He led active social life, loved traditional sports, such as hunting, horse-riding and golf and is well known for indulging in fashion, wine and women (Nash and Newth 6-8). During his reign many changes took place in social legislation, culture, fashion, technology and medicine. Britain of this period was one of the most powerful countries in the world. (“Edward VII”). It is unquestionable that the story of Mary Poppins is set in a very interesting and eventful time that brought many changes to lives of people. The wealth of the British Empire in the 19th century grew thanks to Industrial Revolution and factories that supplied cotton, woolen materials and steel to other countries of the world which brought great profit to the country. Mr. Banks is a representative of people who had abundance of money and used stockbrokers to buy shares for them in new fields. In one of the scenes of the film he tries to convince Michael to invest his money in the bank instead of giving them to a poor bird woman for bird food:

“If you invest your tuppence Wisely in the bank Safe and sound Soon that tuppence safely invested in the bank Will compound Michael, you'll be part of... Railways through Africa, Dams across the Nile, Fleets of ocean Greyhounds, Majestic self-amortizing canals, Plantations of ripening tea all from Tuppence prudently thriftily, frugally Invested.” (Mary Poppins)

It was especially profitable to invest in underdeveloped countries in the tropical part of the world since the people there didn‟t need much to live on and didn‟t require lavished accommodation but only a simple shelter. (Nash and Newth 9). The growth of wealth resulted in the City of London becoming an important financial centre. The banks at the City were the base of the whole and the bankers held very important positions that put them at the top of the Middle class. In the film the bankers harshly try to persuade Michael in depositing his pocket money in the Dawes, Tomes Mousely, Grubbs Fidelity Fiduciary Bank. When they do not succeed they put pressure on their father as well to sway his decision. When nothing helps the Elder Mr. Dawes simply takes it from him. Michael‟s screams are heard by other people in the bank who start panicking about their own money. A run on the bank ensues while Michael snatches his savings back and runs away together with Jane. The bank has to suspend trading for some time and Mr. Banks is fired for letting his son cause the first run on the bank since 1773. By loosing his post of junior officer in the bank he not only looses a regular means of income but he also steps down on social ladder as it is suggested by Mr. Dawes destroying his hat and umbrella. Edward VII is among other things well known for supporting modernization and the Edwardian era was a significant time of inventions that made a great change in easing people‟s lives. There are several references to new discoveries in Mary Poppins. Before they are introduced though it must be said that their discovery did not always mean they were automatically integrated in the common household. In Mary Poppins we saw Mr. Banks using a telephone in his house when looking for the children at the beginning of the film. Although this was a common thing in 1935 when the book was written it was rather unlikely in 1910 to have a telephone at home. Telephones were widely used in offices but private telephones were not very common. According to Culpin (247), in 1920 only 2% of all homes in Britain had a telephone. When Katie Nanna, the children‟s outgoing nanny, leaves Mr. Banks decides to put an advertisement in the newspaper asking for a reliable nanny to apply for the position in their house. While newspapers were sold from the 17th century they underwent major changes in the second half of the 19th century. The early papers were expensive because of taxes and there were not many people that could read, so they were sold mostly to the upper-class. After the Education Act in 1870 more people learned how to read, the telegraph made it possible to get the latest news across the country in a short time and taxes on newspapers were removed (Culpin 247). Advertisements were an essential part of newspapers as a way of making profit.

In addition, advertising was very common in the Edwardian era not only in the newspapers, but with the expansion of trade advertisements could be found everywhere from tins and bottles to hoardings along the streets. (Gilfillan) A reference to medical contrivance appears when the children go with Mary to meet her Uncle Albert. They find him in a fit of laughter that sends him flying around the room. In the third chapter of Mary Poppins it is explained that the flying is caused by the “laughing gas”. The book describes it as some sort of gas that makes people laugh and fly in the air. The real laughing gas, nitrous oxide, was discovered by Joseph Priestly in the 18th century and is used for medical purposes as anesthetic and analgesic. It was also used as a recreational drug for upper class since it makes people dreamy and in state of euphoria. They can also laugh uncontrollably, as Mary Poppin‟s uncle did. His flight in the air as well as the uncontrollable laugh could be compared with the feeling of a person drugged. Provided that Uncle Albert was a real relative of Mary Poppins we could assume that Mary was from a well situated family background. (“Nitrous oxide”)

The class differences

“Early each day to the steps of St. Paul's The little old bird woman comes In her own special way to the people she calls Come buy my bags full of crumbs Come feed the little birds show them you care And you'll be glad if you do Their young ones are hungry Their nests are so bare… All it takes is tuppence from you Feed the birds tuppence a bag All around the cathedral The saints and apostles Look down as she sells her wares Although you can't see it You know they are smiling Each time someone shows that he cares Though her words are simple and few Listen, listen she's calling to you. “(Mary Poppins)

The society of Edwardian era was very varied. The class system developed as a result of an Industrial Revolution and the wealth was quite unevenly distributed. According to Charles Booth's Inquiry into Life and Labour in London (1886-1903) there were several classes of people. The Banks family would be at the top of the scale.

Booth Description of class Classification

The lowest class which consists of some occasional laborers, street sellers, A loafers, criminals and semi-criminals. Their life is the life of savages, with vicissitudes of extreme hardship and their only luxury is drink

B Casual earnings, very poor. The laborers do not get as much as three days

work a week, but it is doubtful if many could or would work full time for long together if they had the opportunity. Class B is not one in which men are born and live and die so much as a deposit of those who from mental, moral and physical reasons are incapable of better work

Intermittent earning. 18s to 21s per week for a moderate family. The victims of competition and on them falls with particular severity the weight of recurrent depressions of trade. Laborers, poorer artisans and street sellers. C This irregularity of employment may show itself in the week or in the year: stevedores and waterside porters may secure only one of two days' work in a week, whereas laborers in the building trades may get only eight or nine months in a year.

Small regular earnings. Factory, dock, and warehouse laborers, carmen, messengers and porters. Of the whole section none can be said to rise above D poverty, nor are many to be classed as very poor. As a general rule they have a hard struggle to make ends meet, but they are, as a body, decent steady men, paying their way and bringing up their children respectably.

Regular standard earnings, 22s to 30s per week for regular work, fairly comfortable. As a rule the wives do not work, but the children do: the boys E commonly following the father, the girls taking local trades or going out to service.

Higher class labor and the best paid of the artisans. Earnings exceed 30s per week. Foremen are included, city warehousemen of the better class and first F hand lighter men; they are usually paid for responsibility and are men of good character and much intelligence.

Lower middle class. Shopkeepers and small employers, clerks and G subordinate professional men. A hardworking sober, energetic class.

H Upper middle class, servant keeping class.

(„Poverty maps of London“)

While there was the comfortable luxurious life of the rich upper class on one side there was the unbearably bad life of the poor working class on the other side. While the upper class had an abundance of all commodities the working class straggled to find shelter and feed them. In between these two extremes there was the middle class. Although it existed for hundred years as class of merchants, traders and small farmers, it expanded in the second half of the eighteen century with the industrialization. It included people working in professions, such as the law, medicine, the civil servants, merchant banking and the navy. It also included industrialists, who were often men who managed to rise from their poor beginnings. Among these men were rich industrialists as well as small shopkeepers and office workers (McDowall 139-140). These people, although in need of participating in working process led mostly quite a comfortable life. What the wealthy people on the top of the social ladder did not realize was the fact that the reason for poverty wasn‟t in people who did not want to work but the fact that wages were too low or the ill health of the breadwinner. Mr. Banks works as one of the younger officers in the bank and so he is quite well suited. As most people of the era he is mostly concerned with the prosperity of his own family. He goes to work every day proud of his achievements never realizing he could do anything differently. When he arranges with Mary Poppins that the children will go to visit him at work he means to teach them a lesson about what a real life looks like. A day before the outing Mary sings a song to the children about a poor bird woman that sells food for the birds. The song sounds piteous and it is as if there was a comparison of the birds with the poor of the day. She sings about people that do not see her and her suffering and it is immediately certain she means Mr. Banks who walks past her every day without ever paying attention to her or giving her any money. The song touches the children‟s hearts. On the day the children visit the bank they can see the bird woman in flash in front of St Paul‟s Cathedral1 and immediately they decide to spend Michael‟s tuppence for the bird food. Mr. Banks refuses to let Michael give his tuppence to the poor bird woman and urges him to invest the money instead. Michael refuses. He seems to be under the influence of the song he heard the previous day and the idea of saving for future doesn‟t appeal to him. His heart tells him the right thing to do is giving the money to the poor woman which is something Mary Poppins would approve of. At the time of the incident Mr. Banks does not realize that the current state of affairs is not invariable. After the children cause the confusion in the bank he is called back by his superiors. As he walks thoughtfully through the lonely streets towards his place of

1 St„ Pauls Cathedral was built by Sir Christopher Wren between 1675 and 1710.

work the Cathedral stands at the end quietly as a reminder of the event that caused his troubles. He stands in front of the Cathedral realizing that the lucky life he led might take turn for the worse. He is beginning to understand that it might not have been the poor woman‟s fault that she has to beg in front of the Cathedral. There are other circumstances involved. It seems some higher power gave him a lesson to open his eyes to see that there are other things apart from his work that need his attention. It does not pay off to overlook them. Luckily, the event changed him for his own good as well as for the good of the rest of the family and he later also regained the work in the bank. Another example of description of poor peoples‟ life is represented by the Cockney Bert. He earns a living as a one man band, a chalk artist, a chimney sweep, and a kite salesman. The description of his strife for decent life is in agreement with workaday functioning of common people. Every person tried to earn the living as they could and any opportunity to earn some change was welcomed. The time was such that even dirty streets that made ladies lift their skirts and hold them up when they crossed the street served as a way of making money. Crossing-sweepers would run in front of them brushing the dirt away for a reward (Newth 145). Bert as well as the rest of the population does any job that can earn him living. In spite of the hard life he leads he is always smiling, in contrast to Mr. Banks, and he never refuses to hand a helping hand to anyone. Together with the other chimney sweeps he finds beauty in everything they see. They provide their view on things to the children and teach them that there is fun even in the hard work of chimney sweeps. They try to cheer up Mr. Banks as well by shaking hands with him, which is supposed to bring luck, but Mr. Banks is oblivious of their attempts. The way they behave contrasts with Mr. Banks greatly. Jane and Michael‟s father is a very serious man who rarely smiles, doesn‟t see anything but his own achievements and believes that the way he leads his life is the best. He expects his wife and children to be there when he comes home from work and fulfill every need he could have. There is not much he offers in return. His children are very surprised when Mary arranges for them to go to the city with their father since they have never been anywhere with him before. It never comes to his mind that he could take his children out to have some fun. He is the sort of man that does not think he would do anything wrongly. When he is called by the bank managers to return to work after the incident he blames Mary Poppins for what has happened. Bert tries to explain to him that all Mary does is showing him that his children need him. They grow up very

quickly and he will miss all the important moments in their lives. He should cherish his family and every minute they can share together. Mr. Banks shares similar approach to life as the bank managers who seem to value tradition and their work more than anything else and are not hearty types either. Same as Mr. Banks they adopted a respectable expression and pushed happy moments that common life brings aside. After Mr. Banks leaves when fired the top manager laughs as much at his jokes that he dies laughing. That makes his son reassess the decision to dismiss Mr. Banks and consequently he offers him a position of a new partner. They all realize that living the life to the full is more important than keeping a straight face at all times. They all go fly the kites in the park having a good time. It seems that the chimney sweeps brought luck to the life of Mr. Banks, his family and the bankers alike.

Education

In 1850 half of the English population was illiterate. Since there was no law that would make children go to school poor families send their children to work instead. Upper and middle class children were educated thanks to the capability of their parents to pay for the education. We can see in the film that Jane and Michael can read and write. Although it is not mentioned it is possible that Mary Poppins was not nanny, but a governess. The children do not go to school and there is no one else in the house who would supply the necessary education. It was usual for young children to be taught at home by a governess. Michael would probably later be send to a boarding school where he would learn reading writing and arithmetic as well as Latin, Greek, mathematics, history, geography and sport. Jane would meanwhile continue her education at home. Her governess would teach her French, housekeeping, music, and sewing. She would gradually be prepared to become a good wife and a hostess (“Edwardian Schools – How were we taught”). Luckily for those who could not afford expensive education there were people like Joseph Lancaster who decided to help children who wanted to study. In 1798 he set up a free school for poor children and as he was not able to pay teachers, invented a system of monitoring. The system worked on the basis that the older students thought the younger once. Although this way of education would not be considered sufficient by modern standards it

helped the children from among the working class to visit school and get at least some sort of education. Similarly was education provided in ragged schools by John Pounds, a Portsmouth shoemaker, who as well as Joseph Lancaster taught poor children without charging fees. (Newth 174) Changes in providing education came gradually, starting from 1833, when the government provided finances to churches and charities to set up schools that would be more affordable. In 1870 authorities were ordered to build schools in places where there were not a sufficient number of them. It did not mean every child went to school, but it was the first step for providing real education to poor people. Another step was taken in 1891, when the very same schools were made free and attendance compulsory up to the age of thirteen (McDowall 151). Yet more changes concerned with education came at the beginning of the 20th century. The Education Act of 1902 provided state-aided secondary education and in 1906 the School Meals Act was passed that made it possible to provide free school meals for poor children (Nash and Newth 15).

Work

“Chim chiminy, chim chiminy chim chim cheree A sweep is as lucky as lucky can be Chim chiminy, chim chiminy chim chim cheroo Good luck will rub off when I shakes hands with you.” (Mary Poppins)

As happy as the song introducing this chapter sounds, the life of chimney sweeps wasn‟t in agreement with the happy tune. In the 19th century the work of chimney sweeps was closely connected with child labor. Children as young as five were send to work and one of the possibilities was a work of a chimney sweep because the chimneys were narrow and small children were best suited to climb up and clean them. The children worked long hours in confined dark passages, often without clothes to prevent the child from being caught in the chimney. The bare areas took some time to get used to the work and so the children suffered great pain. Many children died when they lost their way in the chimney systems or fell in the lit fireplace. Those who survived often ended up with infected eyes or chimney sweep‟s

cancer. The situation was not better in other lines of work either. As a result of the dangerous work some children infected their gums with poisons in match factories, burned themselves with chemicals in textile factories, disfigured their legs as a result of long standing and in many cases lost their limbs when cleaning running machines (Ottis). There was a shortage of work and little pay. The work available, if any, was one as a laborer or factory worker. The only solution to survive was for every member of the family to take part in earning money. The tradition of the whole families working goes back to the time when farming was the main source of living. When Crompton‟s spinning mule was invented it took one adult and several children to run it. The same system worked in the mines. Before 1842 Mines and Collieries Act no law regulated the age of children that were employed. Men extracted the coal and their wives and children carried it outside. The women usually used baskets on stairs or hauled wagons that were attached to their waist by means of rope (Culpin 153-159). The necessity of going to work and not being able to look after the younger children influenced parents of poor origin greatly and extreme measures were often taken to enable the parents to go to work. Cases of providing children with Godfrey's Cordial or Dalby's Carminative medicine were not rare. Both of these medicines contained opium to keep the children asleep while the parents were at work. Results of overdosing the children were lethal. Many children died as a result of these sorts of arrangements (Horne). While the wealthy upper class was surrounded by servants without the necessity to do any work at all, the rest of the population had to work hard to meet at least the basic needs. During the Edwardian era situation started to change to better because many laws concerned with bettering social conditions of the less fortunate were passed. Most of the laws were passed with the help of Lloyd George as Chancellor of the Exchequer. The Old Age Pensions Act of 1908 gave a small sum of money a week to people over seventy years of age, The 1909 Labor Exchanges Act aimed to help the unemployed to find work and started the tradition of national health insurance and there were also some reforms that helped the situation of children. In 1911 National Insurance Act was passed to help people to free medical treatment, sick pay and the right to an unemployment pay (“The Liberal reforms 1906-1914”). Although it was not common for the classes to mix Mary Poppins takes Michael and Jane to meet various people with varied occupations. Although they are not subjected to any unpleasant experience when diving unto the unknown world of lower classes they still get important lessons from Mary. She teaches them that every job is easier done when one tries to

find fun in it. The first lesson of this kind comes when she first steps through the door of the nursery and asks the children to tidy up their room. It is obvious that they would not be very keen on doing so but she shows them that when they stop moaning and do the job instead it pays off. She helps them with her magic and when they see it is fun they help themselves and enjoy it more than ever before. When they run away after the visit to Mr. Bank‟s employer they bump into Mary‟s friend Bert who takes them up the chimney to see a different perspective on things. The view over the rooftops is spectacular and Bert rightly states that the only people that get to see it are the chimney sweeps. Together with his fellows he shows the children that they do not despair over their hard life and try to find nice things even in the dangerous work they have to do. Their friendly manner makes the children forget the problems they left behind. The reunion is broken by Admiral Boom‟s shooting at the chimney sweeps. His not very favorable attitude toward them may suggest that people from different social background should not mingle according to his opinion. This sort of attitude would be in concord with the fear of the middle class to fall from their hardly gained position back in the working class.

Housing

At the end of the 18th century and beginning of the 19th century changes in industry, economy, transport and other parts of life took place. Industrial Revolution made mass production possible. The rise in manufacturing opportunities brought great numbers of people to work to town in factories. The workers housing was not enviable at all. The employers provided accommodation in houses that their built near the places of work with as little money as possible. The houses were jerry-built, with bad foundations and made of cheap materials. Type of back-to-back houses was favored by builders thanks to the fact that two rows of houses could be built under one roof. Water was often taken from a well near which was often a cesspit, rubbish was thrown to streets. (Newth 137-138). The newcomers frequently moved in with their friends or relatives. The houses were divided as much as possible and it was not rare to see a whole family living in only one room.

Culpin (128) says:

“People were horrified when it was revealed that 35% of the population of Finsbury, in London, lived more than two to a room. In Glasgow it was 55% and in Dundee 63%”.

Moreover, there were cow-sheds and piggeries in the city, which together with rotten market products and decay from overcrowded graveyards produced repulsive smell. It is not surprising that middle-class moved to the suburbs and the centre was left to poor families (Culpin 127-129). Although London was not industrial, it expanded quickly and the growth brought its own problems. Growing numbers of people in towns had one dangerous side effect that worsened the health of the town dwellers. In the scene on the roof when Mary Poppins and Bert take the children for the walk all the chimneys seem to be smoking. The reason is that at the time domestic heating was supplied by burning coal. While in the film the view is clear it would probably not be the case in reality. Heavy sulphur smoke was produced by the heating and resulted in the famous Victorian fogs that would obstruct the view. (Newth 139). One scene in Mary Poppins shows the children running away from their father and ending in a poor neighborhood. The scene resembles the atmosphere of the conditions the poor families had to live in. The houses are dark and dirty from the outside and although the children do not enter any house it is presumable that the interior would be gloomy as well as the buildings. The hostile atmosphere of the place is emphasized by a begging woman and a barking dog that scare the children away. For the Banks‟ children it was only a matter of one bad event to end up there but for the working class it was the world they had to cope with. For Jane and Michael there was the helping hand of Bert waiting to take them away to their nice and clean neighborhood. Others were not so lucky. Difference in housing is clearly depicted on Jane and Michael‟s return home. The Banks family lives in a house typical for the middle class in a street with beautiful surrounding houses and a park just across the street. It contrasts greatly with the living conditions in the poor neighborhood. The facade of the house is white and the massive wooden door is surrounded by grand pillars on each side accompanied by large flower pots with red flowers. The interior is richly furnished and decorated with spacious rooms, carved staircase and high ceilings. During Victorian era there was little light let into the rooms, a lot of furniture and full of clutter. The rooms were painted dark colors and heavy fabrics were

used for curtains. The rich people wanted to display their success to be admired and so they decorated their houses accordingly. The manifestation of wealth is still visible in the Banks family house through the porcelain set on display, crystal chandelier and dark velvet curtains. The Edwardians allowed light into the rooms and used lighter colors, there was less furniture and simpler details (“Period Style: Edwardian (1901-1910)”). Light wallpapers as well as popular floral patterns on the furniture are clearly noticeable in the Banks house. Another dwelling pictured in the film is the house of Uncle Albert. It seems to be placed closer to city center in a narrow street with café‟s and shops. When Bert opens the door it is clearly visible that the interior is not at all as sumptuous as the house where the children live. The hallway is full of clutter and the staircase is plain. The living room has high ceiling with beams and there is a lot of jumble everywhere, similarly to the vestibule. There are a lot of pictures on the walls as well as mule-deer-antlers. The window is bordered by heavy red curtain. Although it is not as luxurious as the house of the Banks‟ family it seems to be reasonable enough accommodation. From 1850 housing started to get better for the working class as well thanks to better sewage systems and piped, clean water. The difference was also noticeable thanks to new system of street cleaning. The first mechanical street sweeping machine was invented by Joseph Whitworth in 1843. The 1875 Artisan Dwelling Act changed standards for building houses and gave the rights to cities to square away slum areas. In 1909 building of back-to- back houses was banned. Thanks to these actions and medical advancements health of the population improved and death rate declined (Culpin 71).

Entertainment

Life was not easy for the lower classes during Victorian and Edwardian era and so it is not surprising that people tried to find ways to ease the burden of hardship. There were several activities that could help them chase the gloom away. The film begins with Bert playing a one man band in the street to passers-by. He puts on a special construction consisting of several instruments and amuses people by singing. Framework of the mechanism is formed by a large drum attached to Bert‟s back with a trumpet, cymbal, triangle, hooter and a hunting horn attached elsewhere around his body.

Moreover, he holds a small accordion and dances along. People around him seem to be very pleased when hearing stories from their lives. Unfortunately, when it comes to providing money at the end of the performance the reality of real life hits home and Bert does not get much payoff. There were several other street spectacles available in the 19th century. Musical amusement was provided by barrel organ that was played by Italians. A monkey in a red coat accompanied the organ-grinder to make the show more interesting. These men got their money more often. If not for their music they got it so that they moved somewhere else. Some street performances were supplied by animals trained to take an active part in making money. It was not unusual in the streets of London to see a bear on a chain performing tricks for the audience. Puppet shows along sidewalk were popular especially among children. Punch and Judy were favorite characters of that time (Newth 145). Wealthier classes had different ways of pastime. At home they would play games, read aloud, play an instrument, sing and dance. Popular form of diversion was a visit to a circus, where all sorts of shows including equestrian scenes, jugglers and acrobats were shown. A theatre was accessible to those who could afford it. Auditoriums and entrances were divided according to social status. Other ways of entertainment included sports, such as croquet, tennis, football, roller skating and cycling that were introduced at the end of the 19th century (Newth 148-152). Although there were not many places where people from different backgrounds met there was one mentioned in the animated seen of the film. Mary Poppins joins a Derby and after overtaking all the jockeys she wins. Congratulating her are noble man as well as people of poorer origin. The contrast between the two groups is accentuated by their posture, use of language and clothing. In spite of their differences they all join together in a song and it is as if boundaries between social classes were swept away. The moment does not last long though as the rain comes and everybody has to return to their original places. Although there were several possibilities of amusement they were not taken up by Mr. and Mrs. Banks. Their children were left in the care of nannies and their parents followed their own distractions. Mr. Banks was fully absorbed by his work and Mrs. Banks was more interested in the suffrage movement. If it was not for Mary Poppins the life of Jane and Michael would stay rather dull.

The position of women in the British society

“I feel a surge of deep satisfaction Much as a king astride his noble steed - thank you. When I return from daily strife, to hearth and wife How pleasant is the life I lead I run my home precisely on schedule At 6:01 I march through my door My slippers, sherry and pipe are due at 6:02 Consistent is the life I lead It's grand to be an Englishman in 1910 King Edward's on the throne it's the age of men I'm the lord of my castle the sovereign, the liege I treat my subjects, servants, children, wife with a firm but gentle hand, noblesse oblige It's 6:03 and the heirs to my dominion Are scrubbed and tubbed and adequately fed And so I'll pat them on the head and send them off to bed Ah, lordly is the life I lead.” (Mary Poppins)

During the Victorian era the roles in the middle class household were set unambiguously. Mr. Banks is an exponent of the male breadwinner striving to feed his offspring expecting his wife to stay at home and organize the household. Winifred Banks is depicted as a lighthearted housewife who keeps herself amused by attending suffrage meetings. She is full of energy when she comes home resolutely speaking about women‟s rights and the course of actions that their suffrage meeting took but when she learns that Katie Nanna decided to leave she switches into timorous wife afraid of her husband‟s reaction to the news. One of her responsibilities is the selection of a nanny and she seems to fail to find a reliable person that would manage their progeny. She knows that her husband would be dissatisfied when he finds out that although she is held accountable only for the household and the supervision of their servants she does not do a good job. It is obvious that she had a reason to be alarmed as soon as Mr. Banks comes home from work. He makes it clear that he does not believe her in fulfilling the task and as an experienced officer takes the matter in his own hands. Although the position of middle class women was disproportionately better than

the position of their working class counterparts it was not enviable either. Their situation corresponded to a saying that McDowall (137) claims that someone uttered in 1800:

“The husband and wife are one, and the husband is that one”.

Women were supported financially by their husbands and there was not much choice for them other than behave as subservient beings (Nash and Newth 22). Regrettably, women were suppressed in many ways. Fortunately there were individuals that decided to fight for their rights. One of the first women that concentrated on feminism and equal rights for women was Mary Wollstonecraft in her work A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792). She believed that women should be educated same as men because they are responsible for the education of children. According to her opinion marriage with educated woman will be stronger, making men and women equal partners. She believed in co-education of both sexes and that women should have representatives in government (Lewis). Repression of women was unfortunately supported by insufficient support of their rights by law. Until 1839, when Custody of Infants Act was passed thanks to Caroline Norton, children were in custody of their fathers. The act enabled women that did not commit adultery to gain custody of children under seven years of age in the case of divorce. In 1873 the age of children was extended to sixteen and the requirement of not committing adultery was dropped (“Custody rights and domestic violence“). Until 1882 when Married Women's Property Act was passed all money and property women had before marriage went to their husbands and until 1891, husbands were allowed by law to beat their wives with a stick “no thicker than a man‟s thumb.” (McDowall 162). Luckily, the end of the 19th century was a time of progress and so changes concerning the position of women were slowly coming to replace the traditional view that women are bound to stay at home and look after the household only. The first step that was taken was to gain the right of women to be educated same as men by convincing the examiners in Cambridge that women should be allowed to take the exams there and later allowed to study for degrees. The first women students had a hard time studying as the society wasn‟t prepared for this sort of change, but they managed to gain the right to study any course they liked by the end of the 19th century. (Newth 153)

Changes in education had an impact on the professional life of women as well. One of the first women who rebelled against the expected role for a woman was Florence Nightingale. She worked hard to educate herself in the art and science of nursing and in spite of opposition from her family she went to Crimea to take charge of injured soldiers. Consequently, she organized the first professional training of nurses and made the profession a respectable profession for women (Newth”).

The suffrage movement

“Cast off the shackles of yesterday Shoulder to shoulder into the fray Our daughter's daughters will adore us And they'll sing in grateful chorus "Well done, Sister Suffragette" From Kensington to Billingsgate One hears the restless cries From every corner of the land: womankind arise Political equality and equal rights with men Take heart for Mrs. Pankhurst has been clapped in irons again No more the meek and mild subservients we We're fighting for our rights, militantly - never you fear.” (Mary Poppins)

While it is commonplace that women and men alike share the right to vote these days it was not the case at the end of the 19th century. During the 1830s and 1840s Chartists supported the idea of suffrage for men and women, but the clause concerning women was later removed from the Chart as the leaders feared that the idea was too radical and could endanger the suffrage of men. Women that were part of the movement took to campaigning for their husbands‟ rights to vote rather than their own enfranchisement. Their main concern was that their husbands should be able to support their family. In 1865 the first British woman-suffrage association was founded by John Stuart Mill and his wife Harriet in Manchester. In spite of their efforts none of the suffrage bills was approved. One of the reasons was a fact that Queen Victoria wasn‟t in favor of the movement and the leading

politicians didn‟t want to disparage her (“Woman suffrage”). While the Reform Act of 1867 gave the right to vote to working men, not all men had the right to vote. Among males that were excluded from this right were those who didn‟t owe property or pay at least 10£ per year in rent, servants who lived with their employers, criminals and lunatics (Newth 104).Women were excluded completely.

“Let woman share the rights, and she will emulate the virtues of man; for she must grow more perfect when emancipated. . . .” (Powell).

Attempts to change the situation started in 1896 when Emmeline Pankhurst, the founder of the Women‟s Franchise League, started organizing Sunday open-air meetings. Local authority announced these meetings illegal and imprisoned those who were caught participating. In 1897 Millicent Fawcett founded the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NWSA) to unite organizations with the same goal throughout the country. The original idea didn‟t stand on using violence, but on non-violent protest. They used petitions, meetings, pamphlets and letters to politicians (Culpin 222). When the attempts to gain vote peacefully failed The Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) was set in 1903 by Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters Sylvia, Christabel and Adela to take more radical action. (Trueman) "Deeds Not Words" was the motto of the organization and the methods they used deferred greatly from those used by NWSA. Although the aim of Christabel Pankhurst was to gain more rights for women in different areas of life the WSPU was perceived by working class women as an organization using violence to get the right to vote only. As such they didn‟t find it interesting and didn‟t join in the movement. The organization was working mainly thanks to middle class women, such as Mrs. Banks. The first action that went against social conventions took part in 1905, when Christabel Pankhurst and Annie Kenney interrupted speeches of Winston Churchill and Sir Edward Grey. They were arrested and went to prison. Mrs. Banks participation in the suffrage movement is presented early in the film. On returning home at one of the first scenes she describes the glorious moments of their meeting to her servants. She is mostly delighted when she remembers like Mrs. Whitbourne-Allen chained herself to the wheel of the prime minister's carriage and Mrs. Ainslie was carried off to prison, singing and scattering pamphlets all the way. The character of her participation in the suffrage movement corresponds to the actions of that time but does not wholly describe the extent of actions suffragettes took. Although it sounds cheerful from the mouth of Winifred Banks the

movement was more militant than is mentioned. Methods the suffragettes used range from interrupting meetings, holding demonstrations, and chaining themselves to railings in Downing Street to window smashing, burning empty buildings and letterboxes, slashing paintings in the art galleries and destruction of churches. Furthermore, they went on hunger strike when arrested. To avoid the suffragettes dying in prison the government responded by force feeding them with a tube put down their throats and later by introducing an Act that allowed releasing suffragettes from prison until they had recovered and arrest them again. It became known as the Cat and Mouse Act (Young). While The Women's Social and Political Union hoped that the publicity they would get thanks to their radical actions will bring more attention to the rights of women, some of the actions were contra productive and led to mixed reaction. Many people disagreed with the use of violence to gain the right to vote and believed that it made the government more intransigent. In 1907 some members of the organization broke off to form Women's Freedom League (WFL) because they felt that the Pankhursts didn‟t consult other members of the group when decision making. In spite of all the efforts of all the groups mentioned the right to vote was given to women only after their work during the First World War. In 1918 the Representation of the People Act finally gave the vote to all men over the age of 21 and women over the age of 30. Moreover, the women who wanted to vote had to be householders or married to householders (Culpin 222- 223).

The upbringing

“A British nanny must be a general The future empire lies within her hands And so the person that we need To mold the breed Is a nanny who can give commands A British bank is run with precision A British home requires nothing less Tradition, discipline and rules must be the tools Without them, disorder, catastrophe, anarchy In short you have a ghastly mess.” (Mary Poppins)

The story about the magical nanny was chosen because British family life and upbringing has for centuries been influenced by employment of governesses, nurses and nannies. These women played a major role in childcare and were inherent part of an Edwardian middle class household. They often worked for the same family for years and became part of the family more than mere servants. The roots of this sort of arrangement go back many centuries, but the greatest boom in employing ladies to bring up children in wealthy families came in the 19th century when Industrial revolution and trade made it possible for the middle class to get wealthier and the assistance of a governess became affordable (“The Role of the governess”). Population increased greatly in the 19th century thanks to better medical care and living conditions. While there were only two children mentioned in the film version of Mary Poppins in the book Mrs. Banks gives birth five times. Middle class children were not looked after their mothers but by nannies. These women were placed in a very specific position in the society. Although they were often from a respectable family background and were well educated they had to provide for themselves for some reason. The fact that they had to earn their living as well as the fact that they were not married put them in an awkward situation since the Victorian society gave a great deal of weight to the idea that women should marry early and stay in the house. Women that did not conform to social expectations were not accepted as equals. They no longer belonged to the same rank as the family they worked for

as well as lived with and neither were they accepted by the other servants in the house because on the social level they were above them. We can see a reference to this in Mary Poppins. When Katie Nanna is leaving the house Mrs. Brill, the cook, exclaims that it is a good riddance. She claims she never liked her anyway from the moment she took the position in the house. She also implies that Katie Nanna‟s behavior might have been sometimes superior which is emphasized by Katie Nanna´s bearing and posture. Nannies often had to put up with naughty behavior of the children as well as other detraction. Although it seems that Michael and Jane sing a nice song about how their future nanny should look like in between the lines we learn that if the nanny is not nice they have a repertoire of naughty tricks they can play on her:

“If you want this choice position Have a cheery disposition Rosy cheeks, no warts Play games, all sorts You must be kind you must be witty Very sweet and fairly pretty Take us on outings give us treats Sing songs bring sweets Never be cross or cruel never give us castor oil or gruel Love us as a son and daughter And never smell of barley water If you won't scold and dominate us We will never give you cause to hate us We won't hide your spectacles so you can't see Put toads in your bed or pepper in your tea Hurry, nanny Many thanks Sincerely Jane and Michael Banks.” (Mary Poppins)

While modern age brought new knowledge concerning the stages of development of children, during Victorian era it was common that children were thought of as full of guilt. Moreover, a favorite idea of that time was that children should be seen and not heard. Discipline was most desired and children were often punished severely if not obedient

adequately (Lopez). The character of Miss Andrew, who appears in Mary Poppins comes back as well as in the musical version of the story, could represent a prototype of a Victorian nanny. According to the story she was Mr. Banks‟ nanny when he was a small boy. Outgrowth of her care is visible in his seclusive mindset towards his wife and children. He was brought up without feelings and all he learned was to do his duties with discipline. Immediately as he learns Miss Andrew is coming to visit them he grows pale and anxious and leaves the house in a hurry. When asked by his children what his nanny was like he states she was “a wholly terror”. Later when Miss Andrew arrives the reader is left in no doubt that there is some truth in the utterance. The first thing the children see from her is an enormous foot followed by the rest of her corpulent body. Her face does not bring much of a comfort either. Her eyes are small and peer angrily from behind glasses, her nose is beaked and her mouth frightful. Immediately she steps out of the cab Miss Andrew bosses everyone around and in her self-righteous way insults and degrades everyone and everything in her way. It is as though there was a deliberate comparison in between Miss Andrew and Mary Poppins. While Miss Andrew represents the old order of Victorian era, Mary Poppins stands for changes in upbringing that came at the beginning of the 20th century with softer methods that did not include corporal punishment or brimstone and trickle. While Mrs. Banks is preoccupied with “the cause” and Mr. Banks with his work Mary takes the children on a journey to places where magic resides but also to places where they can meet people from all sorts of background and professions. Although she is rather firm with the children she also shows them kindness and love which is something that they miss from their parents. She teaches them to notice things around them and help those that need their help. Mary gives the children all her attention. When she appears in the film it is obvious that she will listen to their needs. She brings their advertisement with her and acts as if what Jane and Michael ask for is the most important thing. She is not the sort of nanny that weather the time with the children without much care. She takes them to park, sings them songs and tells them fairytales. Apart of the fun she provides she teaches them what is important in life. Thanks to Mary they meet people from all social backgrounds and have the chance to find out that what really matters is often behind appearances. Mary Poppins represents changes to the better. Although still strict she looks after the children with care and always keeps them on the safe side. Concentrating on this topic a spectator can sense a change coming immediately when Mary appears on the scene. The old strictly looking nannies in their dark clothes are blown away by the East wind and a breath of fresh air comes on screen in the figure of Mary Poppins. Immediately as she

appears it is obvious she brings a change in the household. Her appearance varies distinctly from her predecessors. She is young, wears fashionable clothes and hat that makes an onlooker wonder whether the resemblance with a bohemian style of flower children is only accidental. She is not at all a conventional nanny. She uses magic to show the children a different side of life. She brings adventure and happy moments in lives of Jane and Michael who eagerly plunge in anything she prepares for them. It is obvious that their little souls coveted the adventure long before Mary came in their lives. The fact that they escaped from home on several occasions to fly a kite on their own seems conclusive enough. The imaginary fight between the two types of upbringing culminates in Mary Poppins´s embitterment and consecutive punishment of Miss Andrew in Mary Poppins comes back. She is shut in her lark‟s cage and lifted up in the sky by the bird that drops the cage later back on the ground again. When the cage opens and Miss Andrew steps out it is no longer the domineering creature. She shrinks back fearfully and the only thing she asks for is to be allowed to leave. Her departure marks the victory of new epoch. Mary Poppins differs from other nannies in more ways yet. Although employed by Mr. and Mrs. Banks she does not always behave subordinate to them. She does not consider herself a servant but a professional that deserves respect. She is rebellious in her ways and can be viewed as a representative of the feminist movement of the era. We can see the first allusion of her unconventional behavior straight when she arrives and is asked for references. She dismisses the idea of references as old-fashioned and says that she never gives references. Moreover, it is not Mr. Banks but Mary who suggests that a trial period would be wise. The tryout is not meant to find out whether Mary is a suitable candidate but whether the family is going to meet her expectations. When Mr. Banks decides to fire her after the children‟s adventures she does not wait for him to do so and manipulates him into promising the children a trip to the bank instead. On another occasion when asked to explain what is happening she shortly answers that she never explains anything. Although Mr. Banks seems to be taken aback by this sort of behavior he does not manage to protest. It is as though he thought of Mary Poppins as the nanny figure he feared when he was a child and Mary came to show him that there are better ways of upbringing that his children deserve. In spite of the fact that she is employed to help with the children her work for the family is of much wider range. Without the parents noticing she is the incitant that helps them find the right direction to their children‟s hearts and happy family life. It is even possible to imagine Mary Poppins as a goddess who comes on Earth to help children and their parents in need. This theory would be

supported by Mary‟s talking to animals, her refusal of being called young, and the fact that she understands the babies when they talk about their origin. In Mary Poppins comes back (140) newborn Annabel describes her journey:

“I am the earth and air and fire and water, I come from the Dark where all things have their beginning, I come from the sea and its tides I come from the sky and its stars I come from the sun and its brightness and I come from the forests of earth. Slowly I moved at first always sleeping I remembered all I had been and thought of all I shall be. And when I had dreamed my dream I awoke and came swiftly.“

Moreover, in Mary Poppins Comes Back she helps Nellie-Rubina with preparations for spring by placing flowers and animals outside that signify spring coming and Mrs. Cory with sticking stars to the sky. Although the story was written on the basis of an unhappy childhood of its author the name of Mary Poppins is associated throughout the world with a nanny that knows how to behave with children and brings order to a household where a chaos resided before. Wherever she appears everybody regards her with great respect, be it a star an animal or a thing.

Toys

The life of the children is mostly restricted to their nursery and the care of their nanny. They rarely see their parents and if so it is usually only for a very limited period of time. It is not surprising that the children are attached to their nanny as much as she is the person they spend most of their time with. The nursery of Jane and Michael is at the top floor of the house, as it was usual in Edwardian house. The walls of the room are white and the window is framed by yellow curtains. The choice of colors is typical for Edwardian era which chose lighter tones in the rooms in contrast to Victorian dark interior colors. The room radiates positive energy and the use of light colors indicates that cleanliness should be kept there. It is obvious straight away that Jane and Michael are very lucky children. Their room is filled with toys they can play with. There are toy soldiers, a well known toy from Victorian times, as well as a rocking horse and a doll‟s house. Unfortunately, in spite of the fact they have so many things to play with they do not treat them very well. There is a terrible mess in the room. Things are

scattered everywhere on the wooden floor, draws are opened with clothes hanging out of them and the child-size furniture is tipped over. The room of Mary Poppins is adjacent to the room of the children. As soon as she embellishes her own dwelling she sets out to give the children the first important lesson. They all tidy up their room and along the way Mary teaches the children that any job is done easier when an element of fun is found in it. Although she uses magic to help the children the principle is applicable anytime. Toys are quickly put in their assigned places and the room starts to look as a place where a child can play and sleep without danger of ill health. Except of the toys already mentioned rich children could also hope for a train set, Noah's Ark, teddy bear or a golliwog2. Those who had no money to buy so sophisticated toys played with hoops, marbles, rag balls and peg tops. They also played games they needed no equipment for as hopscotch, leapfrog and hide and seek (Cryer).

Punishment

“These Children have been spoiled I've arrived here just in time By chance I've brought the punishment That best befits the crime Brimstone and Treacle And cod liver oil Liberal doses of each These are the treats from which children recoil. The lessons I'm going to teach Just follow my model And don't Molly-coddle It may lead the irksome to irk So seek satisfaction From punitive action Brimstone and Treacle will work.“ (Mary Poppins)

2 The golliwog was a character in Florence Kate Upton‟s books The adventures of Two Dutch Dolls that became one of the most favorite toys (Pilgrim).

While there is a completely different approach to education at schools these days together with methods of punishment that don‟t physically harm the children there were different methods used in the Victorian and Edwardian era. Caning was used in schools on daily bases. Children were beaten on their bottoms, across their hands or legs. It is hard to believe that children were humiliated even for not learning simultaneously. Teachers of that age believed that everyone can learn at the same speed. Left handed children were also chastised and forced to use the right hand. Another way of punishment teachers used was sending children to the corner and let them wear a dunce‟s cup as a sign of being foolish. (“Going to School in Victorian Times“). Although the hat is notoriously known as a way of punishment, the original idea was the inverse. John Duns Scotus introduced the cup in the 13th century to help children with learning difficulties to focus on one thing. The pointed tip cap was designed to funnel the knowledge into students‟ heads (“Shoemaker-Galloway”). Two different views on rising children of Miss Andrews and Mary Poppins were already described. Similarly we can differentiate between their methods of punishment. When Mrs. Andrews arrives the children are shocked by the methods she implies to use. She is the sort of nanny that was dreaded by her dependants. She implies that she uses severe methods to make the children behave. The use of brimstone and treacle or cod liver oil to swallow or scrubbing with carbonic soap may be seen as rather harsh ways of punishing children nowadays, but they were quite widely used during Victorian times. Such methods were those that Miss Andrew would choose to make the children behave. The severe ways of Miss Andrew who worships discipline and rules may signify the old Victorian times when strict discipline was required while the more tolerant approach of Mary Poppins whose most severe method is her reprimanding gaze is showing the new way of upbringing taking the old tradition‟s place.

Conclusion:

“With tuppence for paper and strings You can have your own set of wings With your feet on the ground You're a bird in flight With your fist holding tight To the string of your kite Oh, oh, oh Let's go fly a kite Up to the highest height Let's go fly a kite And send it soaring Up through the atmosphere Up where the air is clear Oh, let's go fly a kite.” (Mary Poppins)

P. L. Travers once stated that she didn‟t write her book for a specific audience. Mary Poppins wasn‟t meant to be a book for children. This thesis proofs that the ideas in the story about the magical English nanny concentrate not only on happy stories that a mother can read to her children before they go to bed but it displays also more serious topics of the Edwardian era. While the term Belle Époque is sometimes used to indicate the fairy-tale like life of the rich this thesis proofs that it was in fact a society based on the subjection of the weak. It demonstrates that the poor, women and children were those who badly needed changes in society and the Edwardian era made those changes possible. The life of people in need went better thanks to the efforts of people who did not stay indifferent. Efforts were made by politicians as well as by ordinary people who were not satisfied with the state of affairs. They were brought forward by words, pen and paper but also by more drastic measures. Some went as far as to endanger their own lives to the good of masses. The story of the Banks´ family shows that although social reforms played a major part in reaching better lifestyle to poor people their application would not have been possible without changes in attitudes of people. Mr. and Mrs. Banks realize that family is more

important than carrier and suffrage, the bankers leave the stiff traditions behind and they all go fly the kites to enjoy life. Although Mary Poppins leaves the Banks family her farewell with Bert suggests that she won‟t be gone long. Her work is never complete. There is always going to be some family in need of her help to better life.

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Appendix 1: A muffin man

(Valentine)

Appendix 2: Dunce‟s cap

(“Victorian Britain: Victorian schools”)