yr13_ia_2007_buckley_b

=B. Summary of Evidence (500-600 Words)=

Margaret Thatcher became the first female British Prime Minister on May the 4th, 1979. Fuelled by a will to reverse the United Kingdom’s economic decline since the days of the Empire, she was determined for the country to affirm a higher level of influence and leadership. Her strong, vigorous methods led to the nickname affiliated to her, the “Iron Lady”.

In terms of economy and unemployment, the application of Thatcher’s policies began by increasing interest rates to slow down the increase of the currency supply, thereby diminishing inflation. She favoured indirect taxation over taxes on income; value added tax was brusquely raised to 15%, with a resultant short-term rise in inflation. Businesses were particularly effected, especially the manufacturing sector; unemployment rapidly passed the two million milestone, doubling the one million unemployed under the previous Labour government. She was to deal with Britain’s inattentive Working Class, their gigantic impulse towards the unions’ strikes and their reckless response towards her authority.

In terms of feminism, Thatcher undoubtedly made the most of being female at the start of her political career, trading cheerfully on housewifely knowledge to emphasise her appeal. In the year that she was elected Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher stated that “the women of this country have never had a prime minister who knew the things they know, never, never. And the things that we know are very different from what men know.” Symbolically, her election as the first female Prime Minister of Great Britain will have earned her a prominent place in the history of the women's movement, and indeed in the history of women. However, Thatcher was at the head of a Conservative party which harboured a noticeable disregard for feminist values, resulting in her lack of commitment towards making a powerful change in terms of women’s equality and social status.

In terms of the Falklands War, a wave of patriotic support swept through the United Kingdom, despite the economical and social turmoil the country faced at that time. Margaret Thatcher’s government was unequivocally backed and strengthened when she decided to retaliate against the Argentine forces immediately after their first attack. It facilitated Thatcher's government to victory in the 1983 General Election, which prior to the war was by no means certain. The Falklands Conflict affected many a lifestyle within the British households, regardless of social statuses and wealth.

The author Sue Townsend portrayed Adrian Mole as a child of the Thatcher era. The character first appeared in the early 1980’s in //The Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾//, growing up in Leicester. Adrian is a very serious teenager, dreaming of becoming a writer. His vanity enables him to behave as if he is 13 going on 30; he highly disapproves of his chaotic parents as well as their relationship, their smoking and their apathetic behaviour.

Adrian’s cynical sincerity [**meaning?**]and his varying admiration for Margaret Thatcher’s firm authoritarianism are often **delusional** and founded on frivolous aspects of the government. The reader suffers through Adrian’s tonsillitis, his parents’ marital problems, his being questioned and misunderstood, his being bullied by the infamous Barry Kent, his love for his academic and beautiful classmate Pandora Braithwaite, and so on. Although Adrian’s naivety slightly detached him from his entourage and the world as a whole, one still notices an **accurate** and contemporary depiction of the social and political events during the Thatcher era. [**these sorts of judgements are best reserved for the analysis and the conclusion - this section should be purely factual and descriptive, no value judgements!!!**]

As a matter of fact, Townsend targets Thatcher’s government in many aspects. For instance the Falklands War, to which Adrian’s father is initially uncaring. Townsend equally tackles themes such as feminism; it indeed plays a significant role within the Mole household, after Adrian’s mother Pauline Mole’s attitude towards housework and domestic duty dramatically changes. //The Female Eunuch// by Germaine Greer is Pauline’s new bedside-table book, and she begins to hold actively feminist meetings in the Mole home.