Class, Culture, Representation

Week 10 Day 1 Discussion Question 1

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In Claudine (John Barry, 1974), the title character is a single mother who relies on welfare to meet the needs of her six children.  She also conceals her work as a maid and her relationship with Roop from welfare authorities.  Yet in spite of these things, Claudine is a sympathetic character.  She is no criminally suspect “welfare queen.”  Discuss the film’s critique of the welfare system.

Author: Holly Allen

I am an Assistant Professor in the American Studies Program at Middlebury College. I teach courses on nineteenth- and twentieth-century U.S. cultural history, gender studies, disability, and consumer culture.

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