# Class and Aestheticism in The Footsteps at the Lock

> Theme guide for The Footsteps at the Lock by Ronald A. Knox.

The contrast between Derek's conventional, dissipated lifestyle and Nigel's affected aesthetic poses highlights tensions within the English upper classes, with Nigel's disdain for 'unforeign' things and his theatrical 'river-man' costume.

## Where it surfaces

- [I: Two Cousins](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_footsteps_at_the_lock_se/chapters/i-two-cousins): Nigel's deliberate cultivation of an aesthetic, rebellious persona contrasts with Derek's conventional dissoluteness, reflecting class and cultural tensions.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_footsteps_at_the_lock_se/themes/class_and_aestheticism
- Themes index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_footsteps_at_the_lock_se/themes