Why did fewer Brits survive the Titanic?
'Polite' Britons died on Titanic
More British passengers died on the Titanic because they queued politely for lifeboats, researchers believe.A behavioural economist says data suggests Britons in that era were more inclined to be "gentlemanly" while Americans were more "individualist".
Women with children had a 70% better chance of survival than men in such an environment, he told the BBC.
The Titanic sank during its maiden voyage in 1912 after hitting an iceberg, with the loss of 1,500 lives.
David Savage, from Queensland University of Technology, studied the disaster to look at how people react in life and death situations.
He said that in testimonies from inquiries in America and Britain just after the event, there were a lot of statements from women saying their husbands put them on lifeboats.
They then "went to the back of the boat to have a cigar, to stand around and be chummy, while basically the boat went down".
Mr Savage said: "There was one gentleman who was rather wealthy... who went back downstairs after he put his wife on the [life] boat... put on his tuxedo...went back upstairs and smoked... with the idea that if I am going die, I may as well die as a gentleman and well-dressed."
'Peak of society'
The "unsinkable" ocean liner went down in freezing Atlantic waters during its voyage from Southampton to New York. As it sank, the captain, Edward John Smith, shouted: "Be British, boys, be British," according to witnesses.
"The American culture was set up to be a more individualist culture and the British culture was more about the gentlemanly behaviour," Mr Savage says.
"You've got to remember that this is the Edwardian period when to be a gentleman was the peak of society."
Mr Savage also concludes that social norms such as "women and children first" were very strong in British culture and survived in such an environment.
Vocabulary:
queue (v,n) -
politely -
a lifeboat -
a researcher -
politely -
a lifeboat -
a researcher -
to sink (sank, sunk) -
a maiden voyage -
an iceberg -
loss (n) -
an inquiry -
loss (n) -
an inquiry -
chummy (inf) -
wealthy (adj) -
may as well + verb -
unsinkable (adj) -
freezing -
according to ... -
a witness -
a witness -
social norms -
What other stories have you heard about the Titanic?
Try to complete the lyrics to - yes, you've guessed it - My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion.
Comments
It is clear that English people were heroes in the Titanic when this sank. I suppose that they were English, no only Britons, because would have been there Scottish. You know that the Scots are in the wider world. It´s possible that aristocratic people who boarded on a transatlantic tanker were not Scottish, but other people whether would be.
There are a lot of movies about the English gentleman where they appear with a tuxedo, a bowler hat, a bow tie, a flower in his lapel and an umbrella or a stick (I don´t know how you call this stick). I recognise that they are very elegant. ( I would like to wear that costume, I know you prefer the kilt). These gentleman were well-mannered and they had a good behaviour. I think all of this they have to show like a lord. It´s not strange for me that they dressed up to wait the death.
Evidently, a English lord should save women and children. Women and children first is the banner of every English lord. Therefore, after they put his wife and his children on the lifeboat, they went back to die smoking. I watched Titanic and I remember that they knew that they are going to die.
We shouldn´t mention American people in this case because they, immediately, are bring up the marines who, as they said, they are the most brave people of the world.
See you.
I always scan through your comment to decide whether I have enough energy to reply. I'm feeling quite energetic today which is just as well. :D
It is clear that English people were heroes in the Titanic when it sank. I suppose that they were English, not Britons, because there were no Scots. You know that the Scots are found in all corners of the world. It´s possible that aristocratic people who boarded a transatlantic tanker were not Scottish, but other people would be. (For the life of me, I can't figure out what you mean here)
There are a lot of movies about the English gentleman where they appear with a tuxedo, bowler hat, bow tie, a flower in his lapel and an umbrella or a walking stick. I recognise that they are very elegant. (I would like to wear that costume, I know you prefer the kilt). These gentleman were well-mannered and they behaved well. They have to appear like a lord. It´s not strange for me that they dressed up to wait for their death.
Evidently, an English lord should save women and children. Women and children first is the banner of every English lord. Therefore, after they put his wife and his children on the lifeboat, they went back to die smoking. I watched Titanic and I remember that they knew that they were going to die.
We shouldn´t mention American people in this case because they immediately bring up the marines, who they claim are the bravest people in the world.