Part Two: Bedders, Paris was Yesterday Summary and Analysis

Bedders: In this essay, Judt reflects on the presence of Bedders - essentially house maids employed to work for Cambridge students - during his college years. Bedders were traditionally older women who cleaned students rooms, changed their beds, undertook shopping, and generally cared for the young men away from their mothers for the first time. During Judt's time at Cambridge, few students had experience with domestic servants and were uncomfortable with the idea of a woman "at their disposal." Judt uses anecdotal stories about the bedders to explore the social hierarchy in Britain during the time. Judt has no first-hand stories of a male student ever having intimate relations with his bedder, no matter how young and attractive, because class inhibitions would have certainly constrained the woman. He also recounts an...