Relationships in 19^th century´s society

The main features I would like to point out in my essay would be the people´s relationships
mentioned in two different extracts of books. I have chosen Thomas de Quincey´s Confessions of an
English Opium-Eater and London Labour and the London written by Henry Mayhew. I will describe
especially the story of Two Orphan Flower Girls.  Both these books were written in 19^th century
and in both of them we can see relationships of people. In some aspects they are similar in other
they are different. I would like to write about the people who try somehow to help these poor
people, because there were just few of them in the text. And I think it is really important to help
someone who needs it.

In both mentioned books the authors are focusing on poor people and their lives. Mayhew is
describing two poor girls and there is a dialog between them and the author. Quincey´s writing is,
as the name of the book tells us, talk of the main character an user of opium. And we can see first
difference. In Mayhew´s book the poor children are the main characters of the story, the narrator
is talking to them and we get to know something about their hard life. However in the second text
the young man is described. These facts point out that there would be different relationships in
both texts as children usually act in different way than the adults.

In London Labour and London we can watch the live story of two sisters. So there is a close
relationship between them. They are family and it is usually expected that the members of the
family would stay together and help each other. They live together with their brother. Their mother
died few years ago and they remained alone. They like each other even if they are half-siblings, as
the older girl has mentioned, she could not imagine emigrating without her brother and sister.
Also another people, who buy bunches of flowers from them, behave quite well to these girls. In the
text the older girl mentions that no gentleman was ever rude to her. Although they are very poor,
they do not have problems with other people.

Opium-Eater is not alone as well, but it is hard to call it a “relationship”. He meets one young
girl, she is a prostitute Ann. They spend time together, usually nights, but they do not love each
other. They stay together because they have nearly the same fate. They both do not have “home” and
family. But we cannot see and love affair. Even though Opium-Eater is afraid of her when she passes
out one night and there is nobody to help her. Nobody in the night street take care about one girl
from the street. But I cannot be so strict by saying that nobody cares about his fade. There is a
man called by the narrator as Lord D---- and he tries to help him.

There are also another people in the main characters surroundings. I mean people who provide them
some kind of living. These landlords are in my opinion quite different. But both of them try more
or less to help them. The two sisters with their brother are staying with their landlady and her
husband in one room, which is not spacious enough for all these people. They have one bed for all
of them, so the living conditions were not great.  The children have to pay rent for their living.
On the other hand the lady helps them in the way possible for her. She washes and repairs them
their clothes. She even lends them money if they do not earn enough.

Also Opium-Eater has possibility to live in a house. But the conditions were slightly different. He
is offered to stay in an unoccupied house. This house belongs to a man who gives Opium-Eater bread
so that he does not starve. So this character has larger space to live in than the girls. On the
other hand the living conditions are worse than in the small but relatively clean room where the
girl stay. This house is empty, cold and with huge number of rats. The house equipment consists of
almost nothing in the house except few chairs, old table and there is one small inmate already. The
poor child is staying there and the presence of our “hero” makes her happy.  Their relationship is
based on mutual help. The man promises to protect the child of the ghosts she is afraid of and she
helps him to orient in the house. They usually sleep together and developed their sleeping place. I
think this is quite different relationship than that with young girl. The small child sees the
guardian in Opium-Eater. Maybe she was not so lucky to meet so many kind adult people as the
flowers´ girls do.

In my opinion the lives of poor people in the 19^th century had to be really hard, especially
concerning small children. For them the relationships are maybe more important than for the adult
suffering man. They need to feel sureness and safety. And that is another different between these
two types of characters. The Opium-Eater does not want to get too close to someone. Maybe he does
not want to hurt someone or he was afraid of his death because of his bad health. The children make
relationships quite easier they do not want to be alone because of their fears and vulnerability.