The Poetic Realism and Social Class in The Rules of the Game The 1939 film The Rules of the Game (Jean Renoir) created before the Second World War portraits the everyday life of upper-class people and the relationships between different social classes in the contemporary French society. The detailed setting of the estate endows the vivid comparison between the upstairs and downstairs' working and living milieus. The complicated romantic relationships between families in the same class as well as cross the masters and servants do not only provide the film with the complexity of entertainment but also indicates the uncertain prospects and the ambiguous boundaries in terms of various social classes. As the typical features of poetic realism,
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In addition, Octave's defense for Christine's absence "She's a society woman, and society has strict rules." illustrates that it is certainly inappropriate for a man with such high social status like a hero to discuss his mistress in public, and for a married woman to show in the public to welcome her lover. Although the film presents the fact that the upper tendon during the 1930s in France did not against having a lover, it is crucial what attitude the husband and wife hold to embrace the situation. In The Rules of the Game, the Le Chesney couple is under the spotlight for they are the host of this party, so their relationship and behaviors are always examined by the other high classed people. Therefore, when Mr. Chesnaye hears Andre's speech in the radio, he does not show his furious or accusing over his wife, rather he speaks in an understanding tone "How could you have refused him that small token of affection?" even tries to find an excuse for Christine that "he [Andre] mistook it for love." Mr. Chesnay behaves as a classic gentleman, which justifies his belief on protecting his wife's dignity as well as showing the trust between them; however, only at the later point of the film when he directly sees the hug between …show more content…
When the same loving affair issue arises between the servants, the gamekeeper Schumacher reacts much fiercely than his master Mr. Chesnay. Schumacher cannot tolerate even a sign of disloyalty of the marriage, and he warns Marceau that he will "fill you full of lead" if he ever catch Marceau with Lisette again and even uses the gunshot to cause violence during the process of the party. The job and the social status all give the audiences to make a reasonable assumption that Schumacher might not be well-educated, so there are fewer frames in his mind to constrain his behaviors, especially in a certain significant occasion. Schumacher is the perfect example of a low-class servant who reflects the restraint in the lower class is more flexible, and people's true feelings are not confined by the implicit rules of the hierarchy. Moreover, unlike the evenness between the upper people, there is a more obvious divergence on the standings of the servants who work at the inside and outside of the house. There is a frank difference in terms of the costumes on the servants that all the maids and footmen wear more formal dresses and suits for they are also parts of the
In addition, Octave's defense for Christine's absence "She's a society woman, and society has strict rules." illustrates that it is certainly inappropriate for a man with such high social status like a hero to discuss his mistress in public, and for a married woman to show in the public to welcome her lover. Although the film presents the fact that the upper tendon during the 1930s in France did not against having a lover, it is crucial what attitude the husband and wife hold to embrace the situation. In The Rules of the Game, the Le Chesney couple is under the spotlight for they are the host of this party, so their relationship and behaviors are always examined by the other high classed people. Therefore, when Mr. Chesnaye hears Andre's speech in the radio, he does not show his furious or accusing over his wife, rather he speaks in an understanding tone "How could you have refused him that small token of affection?" even tries to find an excuse for Christine that "he [Andre] mistook it for love." Mr. Chesnay behaves as a classic gentleman, which justifies his belief on protecting his wife's dignity as well as showing the trust between them; however, only at the later point of the film when he directly sees the hug between …show more content…
When the same loving affair issue arises between the servants, the gamekeeper Schumacher reacts much fiercely than his master Mr. Chesnay. Schumacher cannot tolerate even a sign of disloyalty of the marriage, and he warns Marceau that he will "fill you full of lead" if he ever catch Marceau with Lisette again and even uses the gunshot to cause violence during the process of the party. The job and the social status all give the audiences to make a reasonable assumption that Schumacher might not be well-educated, so there are fewer frames in his mind to constrain his behaviors, especially in a certain significant occasion. Schumacher is the perfect example of a low-class servant who reflects the restraint in the lower class is more flexible, and people's true feelings are not confined by the implicit rules of the hierarchy. Moreover, unlike the evenness between the upper people, there is a more obvious divergence on the standings of the servants who work at the inside and outside of the house. There is a frank difference in terms of the costumes on the servants that all the maids and footmen wear more formal dresses and suits for they are also parts of the