[68A]
AI OVERVIEW
“You are absolutely right. Within the context of the strict hierarchy I just described, a parent offering an apology to a child was indeed a revolutionary and radical act.
If a parent in those days said, ‘I am sorry, I was wrong,’ it completely broke with the prevailing social order. Here is why that was so shocking (and modern) for that time:
- Undermining authority: Society as a whole was built on the idea that the father (as the head of the household) was infallible. An apology was seen as a sign of weakness that could jeopardize the child’s obedience.
- Social ‘impossibility’: Because children were legally and socially viewed almost as the property of their parents, most parents simply felt no need to hold themselves accountable to them.
- The ‘new’ sentiment: Only in very progressive, ‘sentimental’ families (influenced by the Romantic movement) did people begin to recognize children as emotional beings. Within those small circles, an apology was a revolutionary symbol of emotional equality.
In the literature of that period, such as the works of Jane Austen, you often see that parents who make mistakes (like Mr. Bennet or Lady Catherine de Bourgh) rarely or never offer a sincere apology, precisely because their status did not permit it.”