amysrevenge
Well-Known Member
OK I have some questions and/or comments about hobbit society, both from looking back at last night and from looking ahead to next week, that aren't easy to thumb-type on the live chat so I'll put them in here.
Topic 1: England
Are hobbits sort of meant to be representative of actual English country-folk of a particular time period? Or of idealized/romanticized English country-folk? Or not to be anything of the sort?
Topic 2: Class
I've always read hobbit society as being very heavily reliant on class distinctions. Not in a bad way necessarily, but in a very strict way - the state where Frodo and Sam start out would be considered normal, but where they end up, especially with Sam and Rosie moving in to Bag End, would have tongues wagging across the Shire for a month of Sundays. That said, the way I hear you talk about it is to always sort of downplay that distinction, or at least downplay it relative to how I'm reading it. Would you care to talk more about class distinctions among hobbits, and where they are important and where they are less important?
Topic 3: Scandal-mongering
It seems like an integral component of hobbit society is gossip and pearl-clutching and scandal-mongering (I love that term by the way). Should we be reading any judgement into that, or is it just a thing that exists among the hobbits?
Topic 1: England
Are hobbits sort of meant to be representative of actual English country-folk of a particular time period? Or of idealized/romanticized English country-folk? Or not to be anything of the sort?
Topic 2: Class
I've always read hobbit society as being very heavily reliant on class distinctions. Not in a bad way necessarily, but in a very strict way - the state where Frodo and Sam start out would be considered normal, but where they end up, especially with Sam and Rosie moving in to Bag End, would have tongues wagging across the Shire for a month of Sundays. That said, the way I hear you talk about it is to always sort of downplay that distinction, or at least downplay it relative to how I'm reading it. Would you care to talk more about class distinctions among hobbits, and where they are important and where they are less important?
Topic 3: Scandal-mongering
It seems like an integral component of hobbit society is gossip and pearl-clutching and scandal-mongering (I love that term by the way). Should we be reading any judgement into that, or is it just a thing that exists among the hobbits?