CLASS ENEMY Aitor Bori Ibáñez Grupo
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by: Nigel Williams
Author's Bibliography:
Nigel Williams is an English playwright, novelist and screenwriter. He was born the the 20 th
of January 1948 in Cheshire. He studied at Oxford University. Now he is married. In fact,
he has three sons and lives with his family at the south-west of London. After finishing his
studies, he joined the BBC. Then, he worked as an arts producer for the Corporation.
Finally, he became the editor of Omnibus and Bookmark. His first novel, which was My Life
Closed Twice and his screen adaptation of William Horwood Skallagrigg won a quite
important prizes in 1978 and 1994 respectively. Furthermore, he worked as a scriptwriter
for the second season of a pretty famous TV series, called Jim Henson's Storyteller.
Although that, his most successful work has been the TV drama Elizabeth I, with which he
won an Emmy Award for his scripts.
The period when he was born was at first, a period of difficulties. The Second World War,
affected both social and political life of millions of English people. After it, the country was
in bankruptcy. The new Labour government reformed the country's main economic sources
such as the railways or even the Bank of England. However in the 60's under the
government of Harold Macmillan, there was an economic growth. Markets were slowly
recovering from the ravages of the war. The employment of the women, as well as the
falling birth rate, were also important. In 1948 was stablished the National Health Service
(NHS) by the minister of Health Aneurin Bevan. It supposed the main “jewel” of the Welfare
State. The fifties were disappointing but the sixties signified a great spenditure of money to
improve the Welfare State. In the society of England beginning in the fifties, there was a
process of embourgoisement which elevated incomes and reduced most poverty. Besides,
the country lost the former rigid class system, and broke up since the 1950s a different
stratification into different social classes. Regarding to the Arts, novels were in a good
situation, in fact, they were easy to read anywhere and whenever people wanted. But it
was quite different the situation of the drama, which only was possible to be played in the
theatres. These works were specially use to criticize the society in which the authors lived.
In the post-war society, children's freedom was more tolerated than before by their parents.
The working-class youth at this time thought that, for the first time, they could take the
initiative.
