How is Social Class represented in Cranford?

Diegetic sound is used purposefully in the clip to hint to the audience of character’s social class. The audience is introduced to the home of Harry’s family and when the door is opened it makes a distinct squeaking sound indicating that the home is run down, of poor quality and that the family are unable to afford to fix it. This highlights to the audience the low class and lack of wealth of the family living in the house.

The social class of the family inside the run down cottage is also shown through sound when the father of the family says “appy birthday arry”. This is non-reserved pronunciation and shows the audience that the father isn’t educated and has a low social class. This also leads the audience to believe that the rest of the family are not educated and subsequently have a low social class.

When the audience is shown the run down cottage, no music is played. This indicates that the atmosphere dull and depressing as they are leading depressing lives being of low social class and having to work hard for their living. In comparison to this, when Harry is in the greenhouse of the wealthier household, high pitched and up beat music is played showing how unusual the surroundings are for Harry and indicating the high class of the owners of the greenhouse.

The non-diegetic music when Harry starts to feel “giddy” is heavy and depressing influencing the audiences feelings towards the scene by making them feel sympathy for the boy, as he does not get enough nutrition. This lack of food and water connotes Harry’s low social class, as he can’t afford even the necessities such as food and water.

Editing is also used in the clip to show the audience the social classes of different characters within the clip. Throughout the whole clip, the majority of the editing is continuity editing which connotes a sense of realism and that in reality there is people suffering, such as Harry and his family, whilst other people have immense luxuries, such as the higher class wealthy women.

An eye line match is used when Harry is looking at the grapes and the shot of the grapes is held for a considerable amount of time. This shows how much Harry would like to be able to eat the grapes but refrains himself from doing so indicating not only his low class as he is hungry as his family can not afford to feed him sufficiently but also how he has come to terms with disappointment at an early age which emphasises his low social class further.

The conversation held between Harry and his father concerning Harry knowing words from a newspaper is carried out using reverse shots. This shows the fathers harsh reaction to Harry wanting to learn to read and emphasises the family’s low social class and the father is determined for the family not to be educated. This could be, as he never had the chance he doesn’t want Harry to be more intelligent than him so doesn’t let him have a chance either showing the low social class.

The mise en scene of the clip also hints to the reader about classes of different characters. The low-key lighting used in the run down cottage connotes their low social class, as the mood inside the cottage is dreary and depressing. It could also indicate that the family can’t afford the light the cottage showing their lack of wealth and low social class.

Mr. Carter is shown to be of high class when a wide-angle shot is used to show his office, which contains looks of books showing he is educated, leather chair showing his wealth and food and drink to show his well being is better than Harry’s. This all indicates to the audience of Mr. Carter’s high social class.

The mise en scene is this clip reveals through clothing the different classes between characters. Low class characters are shown wearing scruffy, dirty and dull coloured clothing whilst the high class characters are shown in clean, white and often extravagant clothing. The best example of this would be the Lady of the Manor shown in a white extravagant dress.

The camera angle is purposely low to show Mr. Carter’s boots when he is walking before he discovers Harry. It is this shot that allows the audience to see the clear divide between classes simply through the footwear people own. Harry’s boots, although new to him, are second hand and worn. In comparison to Mr. Carter’s boots, which are immaculate, shiny and look brand new, Harry’s boots look old and messy. This shows the classes of the two characters and shoes the divide between people in the clip.

Throughout the whole clip Harry is looking up to other characters through low angled camera shots. This shows Harry as the lowest status as even amongst people of simple class to him he is still looked down on by his father, as he believes he is better than Harry and has authority over him. Mr. Carter also looks down on Harry as he is of a higher class.