HAVE SOMETHING DONE в контексте жизни социума Викторианской эпохи

Современная жизнь, благодаря ее многообразию и бешеному темпу, дарит нам множество одних возможностей, вместе с тем лишая других. Поэтому спокойствие, к которому так стремится уставшая душа, со временем становится все более призрачным. Мужчины дерутся за почетное место в своем отдельном мире, женщины сражаются за почетное место в жизни мужчин, или, наивные, изо всех сил стараются попасть в первый. Но куда бы мы ни стремились, все равно каждый день мы возвращаемся домой, где нас ждут вопросы которые, требуют совместного решения. Everyday chorus that nobody likes doing (cooking, mending, cleaning, ironing etc), but nobody seems to ever get rid of… Unless you belong to that fairy upper class that never cares about such ridiculous things.

So still we watch the movies demonstrating bright and, at first sight, easy life of medieval, Georgian, Victorian societies and wish we lived in those times. The number of servants, which one lady could have, sometimes reached two or even three dozens. Their variety surprises: apart from traditional housekeepers, maids, governesses there were a lot of other odd domestic workers and each of them had their specific and unique duty.  A butler oversaw the wine cellar, a groom cared for horses, a boots cleaned the guests' shoes ad so on…And here arises a question: what did a lady do then? She has to organize, delegate and instruct her servants. She was expected to organize parties and dinners to bring prestige to her husband and work towards improving her own abilities and cultural knowledge.

To keep fashionable and admirable a lady had a lady’s maid who helped her mistress with make-up, hairdressing, clothing, jewellery, shoes, wardrobe care, and all related shopping. The closest male equivalent to a lady’s maid was a valet. The valet performed personal services such as maintaining his employer's clothes, running his bath and perhaps shaving his employer. In a great house, the master of the house had his own valet, and in the very grandest great houses master's sons would also have their own valets.

Как вы видите люди того времени были полностью зависимы от услуг своих подопечных и воспринимали их как должное. Печатались книги, которые помогали слугам совершенствовать свое мастерство. Одна из них Isabella Beeton's Book of Household Management была издана 1861 и пользовалась большой популярностью.

Все это лирическое отступление было не просто экскурсом в прошлое, а только тематическим вступлением к грамматической конструкции, которую мы разберем в этом выпуске, а именно - the construction HAVE / GET SOMETHING DONE. Ведь именно с ее помощью мы можем наилучшим образом описать беззаботную жизнь аристократических леди, привыкших получать все готово, не приложив к этому никаких усилий.

Mrs. Elizabeth is having her evening gown fixed

So compare these sentences:
1)    Lady Windermere swept her bed-room.  - She took a broom and did it herself.
2)    Lady Windermere had/got her bed-room swept.  - This means Lady Windermere didn’t sweep the bed-room herself. She asked or ordered her maid to do it for her.

Now study anther examples:
•    Does Lady Agatha make the bed herself or does she have it made?
•    The Duchess of Berwick: “We have already had our furniture dusted and polished, windows cleaned and rooms aired today, so our servants are free now.”                   


So we use the structure HAVE + OBJECT+PAST PARTICIPLE to say that we are instructing someone to do something for us. In everyday life we constantly HAVE our:
- car serviced;
- house decorated;
- pizza delivered;
- lawn mowed etc…

This means we arrange for someone (and usually pay them) to do all this, because for some reasons we can’t or don’t wont to do it ourselves.

The construction HAVE + OBJECT+PAST PARTICIPLE is similar to the Passive. We focus on what is done to something or someone, not on what someone does:

When we use the Passive or Have something done, we may not know or may not need to name who performs a service for us. That’s why the construction Have something done is also called the Causative passive. However, in contrast to the Passive, we use the Causative to stress the fact that we are 'causing' someone else to perform a service for us.

Вы могли заметить, что со сменой времен, мы меняем лишь временную форму глагола “to have”. That’s right! OBJECT+PAST PARTICIPLE are always still the same, no matter how we play with the tenses.

Note that get should not be used in the Present Perfect, because it can be confused with have got.

Though have and get are often used interchangeably, get is slightly informal and more likely to be used than have when:
1) there is a feeling that something must be done - I really must get (have) my hair cut.
2) there is a feeling of eventually managing to do something - I eventually got (had) the car fixed at the Fast Service garage.
3) in orders and imperatives - Get your hair cut!

There’s another usage of HAVE/GET SOMETHING DONE. Sometimes it is used to show that something (usually unpleasant) happens to us. For example:
She got her hat blown off.
I had my flat robbed. (Of course I didn't arrange for somebody to rob my flat!)

Теперь, дорогие мои, когда вы знакомы с основными позициями по данной грамматической структуре, я хочу предложить вам выполнить следующее задание. На видео чуть ниже you will see people having different things done. Make sentences using the structure HAVE / GET SOMETHING DONE in the Present Continuous tense. E.g. Mrs. Smith is having her hair brushed.

Чем больше грамматически правильных предложений вы составите, тем больше будет ваш шанс победить. Победитель получит возможность «заказать» тему нашего следующего выпуска. Good luck and Happy English). Предложения, а также ваши вопросы относительно данной темы пишите в комментариях к этому посту.