Some thoughts on the hierarchy at Hillerska
A few days ago, @raincitygirl76 made a really intriguing post about how the show is about the class system (find it here!), mainly focusing on Hillerska’s impact as an employer and the types of students who go there.
That inspired me to go off on a tangent and make a separate post about the hierarchy. I’ve been using Agnes Hellström’s book about the real boarding schools (‘Att vara utan att synas: Om riksinternaten Lundsberg, Sigtuna och Grenna’, 2013) as a fanfic reference, so I’m also using that here. It was written back when the schools were still allowed to charge for tuition, and I’m sure things have improved since then. However, much of the content is pretty consistent with what Lisa has said about doing research for YR and what we see in the show.
Disclaimer: I’m not Swedish, just a Nordic neighbour, and these are just my own impressions. If I’m wrong about something, please feel free to add on to this or correct me!
Let’s start with a description of the hierarchy by a former student (he attended long ago, but the author confirmed it largely held true in 2013):
”De som var grevar, baroner och friherrar var högstatus, sedan kom de som var snuskigt rika, ’uppkomlingarna’ som inte fötts rika, företagsledares barn. Därefter kom en grå massa av oss andra, efter dem lärarbarnen och sist kom externerna.” (p. 58)
So, the top tier is reserved for the aristocracy. Kids from comital, baronial, and untitled noble families. They’ve been going to these boarding schools for a long time. Interestingly, it’s mentioned in the book that some of them may have even experienced bullying in a normal school; specifically, the ones who have grown up sheltered on their family estates (likely too far away to attend the exclusive schools favoured by the elite in the cities). They might be singled out and picked on in a more modern crowd, but at the boarding schools, they are the leaders.
The next tier is for the non-aristocratic elite: the filthy rich, the ‘upstarts’ who weren’t born rich, the children of business executives. The order that this former student lists them in feels significant, because old money looks down upon new. According to the book, the old elites felt that the schools were ‘ruined’ when even just more nouveau riche and scholarship kids started coming in (they must’ve hated it when the tuition fees were abolished!!). So, kids like Alexander are likely to be treated worse than those whose family’s wealth goes back several generations - but they are still part of this group.
The next tier is for other boarding students who aren’t as rich. At the time discussed in the book, their parents often took out loans to get them in. As we know, that isn’t the case anymore, but the schools do still have ways of keeping the ‘riffraff’ out... Some of the knowledgeable Swedes here on tumblr have written about this.
Furthermore, I think we can also include the ‘optional’ costs as a deterring factor for those who can’t afford them. Back in 2013, parents were apparently advised to put at least 10.000 SEK aside on a ‘student account’ for other expenses (some kids would take taxis to the nearest town, for example, and they could also use it to buy stuff they needed from the school). I’m guessing the student account may not be a thing anymore, but as we see Sara struggle with money in S2, there will still be stuff you don’t want to miss out on. Also, the extra tutoring seen in S1 is based on real life. The price in the show seems to be pretty close to reality, although according to the book, the teachers could sometimes offer discounts to “poorer” boarding students... (I’m sure it’s not humiliating at all to accept let alone ask for that.)
On the next tier down, we find the teachers’ kids, and the former student interviewed specifically mentions that the non-residents are at the bottom. So I guess Englund or Ådahl’s kids would be treated a little better than Simon and Sara in the show, but they would still be looked down upon. It’s mentioned in the book that the teachers often live on the premises, and I get the impression that they can bring their families too (there was a story about a teacher whose boyfriend was going to move in with her there), but I’m not 100% sure.
So why don’t we hear about these other boarders or teachers’ kids in the show?
Well, the book talks a lot about how everyone is acculturated into the same inner-circle mentality. Despite the internal hierarchy, the boarding students still feel closer to equal than one might think. They all get to be part of the elite bubble, and they want to stay there. Even though it’s a community with very strict norms and very little wiggle room.
A few illustrative quotes from the book:
Trots externerna blir tillvaron så sluten, åsikterna likriktade. En lärare flyttade sin son från Sigtuna till Märsta efter att sakta men säkert ha sett honom förvandlas till en brat. Sonen är fortfarande arg över det. (p. 76)
Lundsberg hade varit ett isolerat, klasslöst samhälle där alla tyckte likadant. Inget revolterande, ingen politisk diskussion. [...] Det var en del av hela Lundsbergs koncept, att träna ynglingarna att lyda auktoriteter och inte göra uppror. (p. 133)
Eleverna på riksinternaten påminns ständigt om att de är Sveriges framtid och Sveriges elit. Där den traditionstyngda kulturen med gamla anor är som starkast är det som svårast att våga sticka ut. Ramarna blir snäva, rörelseutrymmet begränsat. Normen är vita, heterosexuella överklassbarn (med lika vita heterosexuella överklassföräldrar). (p. 144)
To paraphrase in English, these schools are closed bubbles where everyone follows the rules and shares the same opinions, to the point where even those who aren’t technically elites (e.g. the teachers’ kids) start to turn into entitled brats. Rebellion and political discussion aren’t really a thing, and the students are taught to respect authority. As we know, this isn’t just the school’s authority; it’s also the authority of the older students (we see this in the show, and there have been plenty of real-world revelations of hazing and ‘peer upbringing’ among students). And of course, it’s also the legacy of those who came before them. They are constantly reminded of their elite status, wrapped up in old traditions and conservative thinking, and expected to fit into a white, heterosexual, upper-class box.
[As an interesting sidebar, the book supports what the creators of YR (Lisa?) have said about most queer people in such schools. Nobody is openly bullied or harassed for their sexuality, but they are gossiped about, and people usually choose to stay in the closet. Being trans is basically unheard of, and traditional binary gender norms abound. Many students feel that it’s even harder for boys to come out than it is for girls.]
In conclusion, I think it’s safe to say there probably are other students at Hillerska who aren’t necessarily part of the elite - but they want to be, so they’re not going to stand out. I’m sure there’s been a lot of progress since the book’s publishing, but considering how well it aligns with S1 of YR in particular, the changes we see Wille enact in S2 do feel rather revolutionary.
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Peder Mønsted (Danish painter) 1859 - 1941
Sibylletemplet ved Tivoli (Temple of the Sibyl at Tivoli), 1884
oil on canvas
121 x 95 cm. (47.6 x in.)
signed, located and dated bottom right: P. Mønsted Tivoli 1884
private collection
© photo Bruun Rasmussen
Autotranslated Catalogue Note Bruun Rasmussen
Exhibited: Charlottenborg 1885 No. 294.Peter Mønsted made several trips to southern Europe in the 1880s, including Italy. Many of his best works date back to the decades before the turn of the century, where his work on light and color effects resulted in such mood-saturated works as the Tivoli picture here. Mønsted became extremely popular in his day and was one of the most wealthy of the Danish painters. His popularity is still high at times, and abroad has also caught the eye of the Danish painter, who equally skillfully mastered Italian summer days and Nordic snow landscapes.
* * *
Born at the end of the ‘golden age’ of Danish painting, Peder Mønsted can be described as a product of that era. A landscape painter renowned for the clarity of light common to the painters of that age, his naturalistic ‘plein-air’ views made him the leading Danish landscapist of his age. He was also known for a number of portraits, including that of King George I of Greece.
Mønsted was born in Balle Mölle, near Grenna in eastern Denmark. He studied at the Prince Ferdinand’s Drawing School, Aarhus where he studied under Andries Fritz (1828-1906), a landscape and portrait painter, before moving to Copenhagen. Here he studied at the Royal Academy of Art between 1875 and 1878, and was taught figure painting by Julius Exner (1825-1910). Here too he would have come across the work of artists such as Christen Kobke (1810-1848), an outstanding colourist and Pieter Christian Skorgaard (1817-1875), a romantic nationalist painter, a knowledge of whose work is seen in the Danish landscapes and beech forests of Mønsted’s. As early as 1874, at the age of 15, he took part in the December Exhibition in Copenhagen. In 1878 Mønsted left the Academy to study under the artist Peder Severin Kröyer (1851-1910).
Mønsted travelled extensively throughout his long career, being a frequent visitor to Switzerland, Italy and North Africa. In 1883 Mønsted travelled to Paris where he worked with W. A. Bouguereau (1825-1905) for four months. As early as 1884, he visited North Africa returning later in the decade. The early years of the 20th century saw Mønsted returning to Switzerland, the south of France and Italy, the latter being the source of inspiration for many Scandinavian artists of the 19th century. The war years curtailed Mønsted’s travel to Norway and Sweden, however the 1920’s and 1930’s saw him return to the Mediterranean. From 1879 to 1941 he exhibited regularly at the annual Charlottenborg Exhibition. Throughout his long career, Mønsted continued to paint the Danish landscape and coastline. His is a romantic, poetic view of nature; he was an artist who depicted the grandeur and monumental aspect of the landscape, with a remarkable eye for detail and colour.
His works can be found in museums in: Aalborg and Bantzen.
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