Theme
The book "develops a favorite theme of Baum's, the emptiness and artificiality of fashionable life." Throughout Baum's literary canon, but most notably in the Oz books and the Aunt Jane's Nieces series, Baum stresses the fundamental values of simplicity and naturalness as opposed to "sophistication."
Characters in the book express pronounced skepticism about the pretensions of high society. Patsy argues that "all decent folks" are members of society — and when another character calls this "communism," Patsy agrees, "Perhaps so." She continues,
- "...certain classes have leagued together and excluded themselves from their fellows, admitting only those of their own ilk. The people didn't put them on their pedestals — they put themselves there. Yet the people bow down and worship these social gods and seem glad to have them."
Beth's initial attitude is so negative that her cousin Louise calls her a "rank socialist."
Read more about this topic: Aunt Jane's Nieces In Society
Famous quotes containing the word theme:
“The saying, “The Magyar is much too lazy to be bored,” is worth thinking about. Only the most subtle and active animals are capable of boredom.—A theme for a great poet would be God’s boredom on the seventh day of creation.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“The one regret I have about my own abortions is that they cost money that might otherwise have been spent on something more pleasurable, like taking the kids to movies and theme parks.”
—Barbara Ehrenreich (b. 1941)
“The theme of my autobiography could only be repetition.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)