Hyacinth Bucket Character Analysis

Hyacinth Bucket – Keeping Up Appearances

Hyacinth Bucket, the lead character in my favorite British sitcom “Keeping Up Appearances”, should be diagnosed with a narcissistic personality disorder. The first indication that Hyacinth suffers from a distorted sense of self or grandeur is the manner in which she insists that her last name be pronounced. There are countless examples throughout the series in which Hyacinth corrects others as to the proper pronunciation. “It 's Bouquet! B-U-C-K-E-T!” is a common retort from Hyacinth when another character incorrectly says it as it is spelled. As viewers, we are not told the reason why Hyacinth perceives herself to be better than the other characters in the show. We are not told why she has the distorted sense of importance or ego. Hyacinth’s upbringing was no different than any other working class citizen. But it is clear in watching the show that she believes herself to be above common or special. Time and time again, the humor for the viewer arises in the contrasts between her working class reality and her self perceived upper class standing. She is continually trying to interact and be noticed by those individuals she perceives as having a higher social standing. These social elite will have little to do with her. During one particular episode, Hyacinth attempts to have people believe she

“Violet has a Mercedes, a swimming pool, and room for a pony” Hyacinth repeated tells others. Hyacinth is somewhat jealous of Violet, yet uses her relationship with her sister in an attempt to impress people. Hyacinth will exploit people in an attempt to appear connected in social circles. Hyacinth feels that she is most like the upper class in society, and attempts to relate to them because she feels they think as she does. The actual reality is