Materialist Mary Poppins

The fabulous nature announces a suspect narrator. The constant revision screams repression and avoidance. Let us make use of our understanding of children and history.

Servant was an honorable and necessary profession. It was impossible to run a household without servants, there was too much to do. The wealthy understood this and were raised in these relationships, the middle class not so much. Working in a middle class household, in this case the Banks, subject to even greater pettiness and viciousness could be horrific.

The Banks children, observing the dynamic of the household, knew they could be abusive to servants. They took their sense of neglect and entitlement out on their nannies. “Came with the wind” meant that Mary Poppins came without reference, which was unheard of. The Banks obviously had no concern for their children. Confronted with an impossible situation, Mary Poppins resorted to drugging the children with laudanum, an opiate solution that was commonly available. Laudanum is bitter, thus the “spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down”. Laudanum was the Ibuprofen of its day, used for every ailment. It is not until the last few modern decades that drugging children for behavior is appropriate.

Managing children’s dosage is difficult. The children hallucinated. At least Mary Poppins took the children outside for recreation. There she had sport with her friends and acquaintances.  There is interest in her view of empire and hierarchy and how she informed and imprinted the children. The great scandal was her friendship with Bert the match man. Women did not have informal relationships with men. Mary Poppins had several such friendships and she entertained Bert.

The United States class structure is a three by three grid, upper middle and lower both ways. England is four by four, with a government column and a proper lumpen underclass row. Mary Poppins is an upper lumpen.

Did Mary Poppins turn the children loose at Mr. Banks place of employment costing him his job? It isn’t clear what he had done to upset her. Her depiction is powerful, but this is suspect. Her insecurity may have led to her terse and stolid demeanor, a common behavior of servants and subordinates.  Mary Poppins then leaves as she came “with the wind” and without a reference. Lack of a reference meant little prospect for employment. The children are happy that their father has time for them and they fly a kite.