‘Be British!’

Abstract

It is time now to add the third dimension to the late Edwardian construct of ideal behaviour as revealed in the myth of the Titanic: the dimension of race. Our examination of the popular texts has already revealed that nearly all the stories of individuals acting in an heroic manner involve males who are also members of the upper-middle or upper classes. It will now appear that the ideal hero was also white and Anglo-Saxon. Even when the people involved in ‘heroic’ behaviour did not in fact belong to these gender, class or racial groups, their behaviour is nevertheless described as if they had, for to die ‘like a man’ was also to die like an English-speaking gentleman. The fact that the majority of passengers on board the Titanic were not British only adds to the mythical power of historical reanimation at work.