Cultural Context (Comparing Philadelphia and Brooklyn)

Setting
- ‘B’ shares a very similar cultural context with ‘Philadelphia’
- The cultural context of the film is broadly similar to that of the play
- Unlike the play, we also get an insight into day to day life in America
- Both texts feature a young character desperate for a better life.
-Both characters plan to emigrate to America to find a happiness and
contentment that is not possible in Ireland
- Both Gar and Eilis are frustrated by an Ireland that offers few
opportunities and many restrictions

Social Class
- Like the play, social class has a major impact on the lives of the
characters in the film
- Enniscorthy, like Ballybeg, is a very class-conscious, snobbish society
where people are treated differently depending on their wealth or their
status
- Miss Kelly’s treatment of her customers reminded me of Senator
Doogan’s treatment of Gar in ‘P’
- In Bartocci’s, people are not treated differently because of their social
class and this a direct contrast to what we see in both Ballybeg and
Enniscorthy
- Brooklyn offers people the chance to move social classes, something that
is not evident in either Enniscorthy or Ballybeg
- Both texts explore the strong link between social class and marriage

Gender Roles
- The role of gender plays an important part in both texts
- Like the play, many of the women in ‘B’ are depicted as typical female
stereotypes of the era
- Many of the women in ‘B’ work in menial jobs which is very similar to
Madge’s role as housekeeper in the O’Donnell home
- Miss Kelly is a dominant and mean-spirited matriarch, a female figure
unlike anyone we see in the play
- Both Eilis and Rose are expected to look after their mother which echoed
the role played by Madge in ‘P’
- Eilis is ambitious, determined and strives for independence,
characteristics that are not portrayed by any of the female characters in the
play/serve as a direct contrast to Kate Doogan in ‘P’
- Georgina shows a sense of confidence and assertiveness that is
completely absent from any of the female characters in ‘P’
- Like Gar, Tony is a stereotypical male character from the era
- Like Gar, Tony sees himself marrying and presumes that he will have
children
- Unlike Gar, Tony is realistic and he has practical plans about his and
Eilis’s future life together
- Tony treats Eilis with a respect and dignity that couldn’t be more different
than the attitude of ‘the boys’ in ‘P’
- Like ‘the boys’ in the play, there is a sense that Tony objectifies Eilis to a
certain extent
- The way Tony pressures Eilis to marry him is reminiscent of Doogan’s
treatment of Kate in ‘P’
- Although both texts are set in a typically patriarchal world, the women in
the film do more to try transcend the limitations their gender imposes on
them

Marriage
- Marriage is also an important feature in the cultural context of ‘B’
- Like the world of the play, people tended to get married at a young age
- Like Kate Doogan’s situation in ‘P’, ‘B’ also portrays a world where women
sometimes marry for security and wealth (Nancy)
- Both texts portray a world where marriage and social status are very
closely linked
- In much the same way as Senator Doogan chooses Francis King as his
daughter’s husband because of his family’s middle-class background, the
community in Enniscorthy see Jim Farrell as the perfect husband for Eilis
because he comes from a wealthy family and is about to inherit the family
business and home
- Marriage is seen as something that is inevitable for young people in the
worlds of both texts
- Eilis rushes into marriage with Tony in much the same way as Gar and
Kate were planning to do in ‘P’
- Eilis chooses to honour her marriage to Tony because, like in both texts,
marriage is a lifelong commitment
- I believe that Eilis and Tony’s marriage is one based on genuine love, a
type of love that is not very evident in the world of the play

Religion
- Religion plays an important role in the cultural context of both texts
- Both texts are set during a time when the Catholic Church wielded
enormous power and influence over its people
- Like the Canon in ‘P’, Father Flood is seen as a very important and
powerful figure in the film
- Like the play, there is a sense that religion plays a part in the day-to-day
lives of the characters
- In ‘B’, the Church plays a broader, more effective role in the lives of the
people than can be seen in ‘P’
- While the Church is portrayed as being weak and ineffective in ‘P’, the
exact opposite can be seen in the film
- While the Cannon abandons the O’Donnell family at the time they need
his assistance the most, Father Flood is there for Eilis during times of great
difficulty

Family
- Like the play, family plays an important role in the world of the film
- Rose supports and cares for Eilis in a way that reminded me of Madge’s
treatment of Gar in ‘P’
- The Lacey family are emotional and visibly upset about Eilis’s departure, a
direct contrast to S.B.’s outward display of indifference in the play
- Eilis was devastated when Rose died and it reminded me of the absence
that Gar felt following the death of his mother when he was just an infant
- Eilis shares a close and meaningful relationship with her immediate family,
something that is sadly absent from Gar’s life in ‘P’
- Both Eilis and Gar feel like they have no other option but to leave their
families behind and leave for America
- While family plays an important role in the cultural context of both texts, it
is portrayed as having a much more positive effect in the world of the film