DM d'anglais du 17/03/08

Alors voilà ce que j'ai fais, à utiliser avec précaution parce que c'est pas ma version finale, il y a sans doute pas mal de faute :s

"The Victorian age, 1819 to 1901, was an age of paradox and contrasts which are illustrated in Many Happy Returns Of The Day, William Frith and Dudley Street, Gustave Doré. I will try to show you all the contrasts in two paragraphs and explain you the different paradox relating to these contrasts, because they are inseparable.

On the one hand, when we compare the two paintings, we can see on Frith’s painting a well-behaved family which look very rich because of many typical objects of Victorian’s period as chairs, table or pictures. Moreover, the fourteen characters wear wealthy clothes even the girls who look like wax dolls. This painting looks like a family gathering because we can see different generations which are together in the same room as the grand father in the right hand, at the bottom and probably his son behind him and certainly his daughter, near to her father. Three generation are represent in this picture and these generations enjoy to lots of food.

On the other hand, on Doré’s painting we can see the lower class, the have-nots, who are very poor and filthy. Actually, they cram into slums because they have not other place to live, thus, children are bring up in an awful lack of sanitation and it is possible they become sick, and die. We can even see a goat among the children, it is really significant : they are like animals for rich people. Even children are barefoot, they let their shoes on the pavement, probably to do not muck up them because children certainly have just only one pair of shoes for many years.

Now, it is time to explain why these contrasts are paradox as well. As for education, it is clear rich’s children go to school contrary to poor’s children who stay in poor suburbs and can’t progress in the society. But, what is very strange is that Victorian education can give very intelligent people, cultivated and well-behaved, whereas it can fall away people who can’t pay for it. Always about education, it was very harsh, even physically, but nowadays, people are nostalgic of this kind of education, because it is no longer like this. As regards the society, people were really affluent because they made the working class work for a ridiculous salary and let it die. Nowadays, it is still the same thing but the contrast is not so sharp.

To sum up, the Victorian age was really an age of paradox and contrasts because of every things I said, and the two paintings illustrated well these phenomena."

Voilà !