Hyacinth and Richard are *maybe* middle-middle class. They're nowhere near Upper Middle. That's what makes her striving so cringe, she hasn't actually climbed far.
On Frasier it's a bit more complex because their dad married up, at least in educational terms (their mother was some kind of research scientist). That it was Martin who was the climber is never fully addressed (but naming his kids Frasier and Niles is a bit of a clue!). That in widowhood he starting leaning back into a more blue-collar identity is my interpretation.
I feel like "Keeping Up Appearances" isn't entirely consistent in this regard. That there's even a question of their buying a second home (which they do, kind of) suggests they're doing OK financially. That and their enviable level of home upkeep. (She has just had her herringbone relacquered, etc.)
The first names on "Frasier" do stand out. But I guess I see them more as suiting the characters. Even if it wouldn't be in character for Martin to pick those names, it would be stranger still if Niles were named, like, Jim. That or their mother picked the names.
Also on Richard and Hyacinth, being middle-middle isn't incongruous with having a holiday home or whatever. Money alone doesn't boost you to Upper Middle!
By US standards they might be upper middle. By British ones (the relevant ones for them of course) maybe not. This could be its own post! But I plead guilty of rounding up the two shows' commonalities.
Good point, and one I should have remembered having literally just rewatched the one where they think it's their mother's diary about them but she's actually talking about Niles and Frasier the rats... very Fawlty Towers, "Basil the Rat."
Hyacinth and Richard are *maybe* middle-middle class. They're nowhere near Upper Middle. That's what makes her striving so cringe, she hasn't actually climbed far.
On Frasier it's a bit more complex because their dad married up, at least in educational terms (their mother was some kind of research scientist). That it was Martin who was the climber is never fully addressed (but naming his kids Frasier and Niles is a bit of a clue!). That in widowhood he starting leaning back into a more blue-collar identity is my interpretation.
I feel like "Keeping Up Appearances" isn't entirely consistent in this regard. That there's even a question of their buying a second home (which they do, kind of) suggests they're doing OK financially. That and their enviable level of home upkeep. (She has just had her herringbone relacquered, etc.)
The first names on "Frasier" do stand out. But I guess I see them more as suiting the characters. Even if it wouldn't be in character for Martin to pick those names, it would be stranger still if Niles were named, like, Jim. That or their mother picked the names.
Also on Richard and Hyacinth, being middle-middle isn't incongruous with having a holiday home or whatever. Money alone doesn't boost you to Upper Middle!
By US standards they might be upper middle. By British ones (the relevant ones for them of course) maybe not. This could be its own post! But I plead guilty of rounding up the two shows' commonalities.
It's definitely an interesting way to analyze them, and there's a lot of class subtext in sitcoms
They had the same names as rats in their mother's research lab. But Martin was presumably ok with it.
Good point, and one I should have remembered having literally just rewatched the one where they think it's their mother's diary about them but she's actually talking about Niles and Frasier the rats... very Fawlty Towers, "Basil the Rat."