Mega Victorian Meta part 2

[dicreasy]

Or why I set my legacy during the years 1837-1901.

Ok so this took me far longer than I thought it would to get finished, but here is the second meta on the Victorian era.

Comments

[orikes13]

Yay for meta! I love these.

The dichotomy between the upper class, middle class and actual wealth is something that's always been fascinating, and just as obviously something that most modern people simply don't get. Nowadays, upper class is considered to be tied completely with how much money you have, not the status of your name or your history.

What I think I love about what you've written here is how it shows that you really do know your source material. It was just a matter of you falling into something because you found some cool cc. Well, maybe it was, but you still know your stuff really well. I love seeing the twist you put on things as you combine the whole world of the sims with the Victorian era. :)

[dicreasy]

I like writing these, they take a while though lol.

Oh absolutely, members of the upper classes weren't necessarily richer than the upper middle classes, and in fact they were more likely to be asset rich, cash poor. Stately homes cost a fortune to run and maintain after all. Your family's pedigree was far more important, and that attitude still exits to some extent today.

Thank you, but yes, finding Judie's website made me realise that I could set my legacy in the era, but it wasn't a case of thinking, "oo pretty clothes, I must use them" and that being the only reason for it. In fact I think that if that had been the case I would have gotten bored by now, and I don't think that my legacy would be the creation it is.

[orikes13]

I think we've all had moments where finding some piece of cc inspired a plotline. :) It just can't be all that's propping up a story unless you're intending it to be a one shot.

Of course, I know I'm always impressed with what you've done with your legacy and making it look so authentic. :)

[dicreasy]

Exactly. I think that's why the part of the secret the other week about how the clothes were pretty but the era was horrible rankled me, because I just thought "shallow, much?" It proved to me that the person hadn't read my legacy because if they had, then they would have realised that it's not hung up on the clothes my sims wear.

[lauriempress]

Thanks Di! Have you ever thought about writing history? That wasn't just infomrative, but fascinating. Wait you don't cut a dinner roll? ;) Us Americans are soooooo lacking in etiquette. :D

Thanks again Di, this was fun to read.

Lauri

[dicreasy]

Well I have good source material to work with. I do sometimes think about doing more with history. but...I don't know. We'll see.

*shock* Noooo you never cut a dinner roll, you tear off small, bitesize chunks, and then butter those! [joke]

I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[lauriempress]

Actully the funny thing is, I'll break bead up and eat it bite size, but only if I don't plan to butter it. If I'm buttering it I tear or cut it in half and then add butter before smashing it back together. lol not sure why I felt I needed to share that.

Lauri

[rosefyre]

It's really interesting to see your views on all this. Don't forget, too, that many of us are American, and that our country was founded on the policy of wealth being more important than where that wealth came from. The British people might see it more, but we Americans wouldn't.

And I had a dream which I think involved Marielle's punishment, but for some reason you had changed her gender and she made a really ugly guy in drag. I have no idea why I had that dream, but I did. *shakes head at self*

[dicreasy]

The interesting thing about wealth and class is that it was the Victorian era in Britain that changed how class was thought of here. Until then the upper classes had the money and the working classes didn't. It was the emergence of the middle classes: people with money who had earned it through industry rather than inherited it or earned it through the land, that brought about the distinction of how that wealth had come into the family. That is when the concept of new money emerged, and how new money somehow had less lustre than old money.

What a bizarre dream. I have started her punishment, and it deosn't involve me gender switching her I'm afraid.

[writeraissa]

Thanks for a fascinating read, Di! I'm not overly familiar with the Victorian era, at least not in England--most of the books I've read set during that time period are set in North America, where things were viewed somewhat differently.

Could you cite some of your sources or places I can find more info on the subject? It really is quite fascinating.

[dicreasy]

You're welcome, it's nice to know that you enjoyed it. I must admit that my knowledge of the era in North America is practically non-existent, so I'm finding it very interesting to hear from all of you about how things were and what the differences were

[profbutters]

See, this fascinates me. I'd want to say more, but I've always recognized your family as middle-class. There was an upper-class in America, as well; it mostly had to do with how long your family had been important. And in old Knickerbocker New York or Boston, it was downright ikky to parade your wealth. They too had the saying "they're the sort of people who BUY their silver

[dicreasy]

You do? Excellent. I sometimes get so caught up in thinking like a Victorian I forget that modern attitudes are different, and that what is obvious to me isn't necessarily obvious to everyone.

It sounds like the attitude of the upper classes in America was very similar to that in Britain. As the middle class emerged your family pedigree and how long it was became more and more important. The middle classes tried to buy their way into the upper classes, and tried to act like them, but failed, because of this.

Oh there is so much snobbery around silver isn't there? Not only about whether or not it had been bought, but also about the quality, and God forbid if a family had not only bought their silver, but also bought that horrid silver plated stuff that was so inferior in every way to real silver