Ideology of Thai Middle Class in V. Vinitchaykul’s Historical Novels

Abstract

The objective of this research paper is to study the ideology of the middle class as reflected in V. Vinitchaykul’s historical novels. The study reveals that V. Vinitchaykul’s historical novels are composed of four ideologies. The first ideology is the middle class ideology including the determination to material success, the strong determination in individualism and the value of equality. Aside from this, the work of V. Vinitchaykul also reflects the feminist flavor by criticizing the polygamy practice in Thai society and admiring “modern women” who are well educated and able to support their living. Although V. Vinitchaykul’s novels seem to be progressive, they also contain some conservative and royalist elements such as recognizing social hierarchy, following social tradition and regarding the monarchy as a soul of the nation. These conservative and royalist elements strongly dominate middle class ideology and feminist flavor that the readers can hardly recognize.