How working class women are represented in British New wave films?

British new wave films represent women in a positive and negative manner. They evolved after the World War 2 and the films were seen to be more liberal that the previous films. In this essay I am going to be talking about their perception of working class women in the following three films; Saturday night and Sunday morning, Room at the top and A taste of honey.

In the British new wave films women are portrayed to be independent of man in terms of welfare. In the film a taste of honey the mother Helen and her daughter Jo are seen to have an economic independence as they can rent an apartment and live by themselves. Jo’s economic independence is further emphasised when her mother leaves her and she makes a living by getting a job at a shoe store. The women are seen to be positively playing a different role in the new wave films and contributing economically to society rather than just being housewives.
Moreover working class women have a sense of modernity; there is a greater focus on women and leisure time that at home with husbands and looking after kids. For example in the film Saturday night and Sunday morning there aren’t many scenes that show Brenda at home looking with her family rather many scenes showing her with Arthur. However this representation carries to middle class women for example in Room at the top, we hardly see Alice with her husband. I think new wave films show this to reflect this new post war freedom that floated to all women not just one class of women. The freedom was somehow diminishing the stereotypical woman in Britain i.e., a women’s place is the house, and showed that women can do more.

There are also negatives representations of women throughout British new wave films by the angry young men. Even though British new wave films were considered to be liberal, sometimes in their representation of women this was not showed. In some cases women are recognised to be an element of trouble to themselves and the men they affiliate with. For example in Saturday night and Sunday morning Arthur is caught with Brenda by her husband and his fellow soldiers, this lands him in trouble and he is severely beaten up for being with her. A similar example consists in Room at the top, where Jo’s career is threatened by Alice’s husband if she (Alice) divorces him for Jo. Although Alice is not working class British new wave reflect all women as trouble.
One more example of this type is in A taste of honey wherewith Helen constantly troubles her daughter’s life and Jeff in the last few scenes. In the above examples all the women are seen to cause troubles to those around them. Also in the ending the films depict the vibe that the women are to blame as they conclude in the women being in a worse situation than the beginning. In addition to this, the character representations of the women in the above examples are presented to be doing things hedonistically and not evaluating the effects of their actions and the troubles that could arise. This can be clearly seen through Helen whereby she runs off with her newly husband and forgets about the trouble she’s causing to Jo. Also Brenda decides to have an affair in spite of the troubles the affair may cause to Arthur and her marriage.

Similarly, there is also a theme of rebellion from women in British new wave films. Women are shown to be rebellious to authority as in the first scene of a taste of honey Helen and her daughter are seen to be skipping rent. In other films like Saturday night and Sunday morning, Brenda is rebellious to her family as she goes out drinking and committing adultery with Arthur. This is also the same case in Room at the top whereby Alice is rebellious against her marriage. Additionally there is a change of roles between the men and the women in British new wave, as stereotypically the men cheat and the women although sad they don’t get a divorce. But the opposite happens in Saturday night and Sunday morning. There is also a sense of women rebelling against their culture/traditional roles this is portrayed by the by Helen who avoids caring for her daughter and being a mother/role model by neglecting her daughter for leisure or wearing skimpy clothes.

British new wave films show working class women being punished because their seen as culprits. They were also punished because they strayed off from morals e.g., having affairs or seeking abortions. This is reflected in Saturday night and Sunday morning at the fair, where Brenda is slapped by her husband because of being with Arthur. We then see her humiliated as she continues to stand still while her husband and child work away. In a taste of honey we see Jo punished with an unwanted pregnancy at a young age without a father of the baby. This shows although women were responsible enough to support themselves in some way financially they were still irresponsible. Additionally, in a taste of honey there is an image of Helen’s and Jo’s progression being restricted. In contrast to Saturday night and Sunday morning and also Room at the top there is at least one happy woman in the end. But in a taste of honey their both in just another bad flat, unhappy and lost, this lack of progression is portrayed by the same song in the beginning as the end.

Concluding, British new wave films represented women in a more negative manner that a positive because the angry young men were angry because they recognised women as the main factor to the cause of the bad changes in society. They thought women’s new independence that allowed them to work after completing the role of motherhood was the cause of the high divorced rates, and caused a breakdown of families. Additionally most of the new wave films were produced by men this gave a biased point of view and despite their liberalism British new wave films reflected a conformist viewpoint in the ending of these films in terms of women. For example in Saturday night and Sunday morning, Brenda returns to her husband house and doesn’t get live happily ever after with Arthur. In the films everything ended in what may have been considered as the right way in that culture. This was also the case in a taste of honey whereby Jo and Helen were living together again.
Another example is in Room at the top, where Alice didn’t get to be with Jo despite being unhappily married, this sacrificed Alice happiness for what is morally right – a divorce not happening.