Re-establishing Class Privilege: The Ideological Uses of Middle and Working-Class Female Characters in Downton Abbey

• Authors: Kevers Laetitia
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

This paper argues that the British period drama Downton Abbey, which aired between 2010 and 2015 and encountered worldwide success, uses working class and middle-class female characters to promote the aristocracy and conservative ideas, while hiding behind historical accuracy and seemingly progressive patterns of behaviour. Through a close reading of four female characters, I will demonstrate how the series’ author, Julian Fellowes, uses the show to endorse his own political agenda, as a Conservative member of the House of Lords in the British Parliament.

Keywords

EN

social class; female characters; Downton Abbey; class; gender; ideology

• Publisher: Institute of English Studies, University of Warsaw
• Journal: Anglica. An International Journal of English Studies
• Year: 2017
• Issue: 26/1
• Pages: 221-234

Contributors

author

Kevers Laetitia

• Université de Liège

References

• Anderson, Robert. 2006. “University fees in historical perspective.” History & Policy http://www.historyandpolicy.org/policy-papers/papers/university-fees-in-historical-perspective
• Bromley, Roger. 1988. Lost Narratives. London: Routledge.
• Buckman, Adam. 2015. “Downton’s Rude Miss Bunting: Is She The Most Hated Character on TV?” Television News Daily (27 January). http://www.mediapost. com/publications/article/242567/downtons-rude-miss-bunting-is-she-the-mosthat.html
• Byrne, Katherine. 2014. “Adapting heritage: Class and conservatism in Downton Abbey.” Rethinking History 18. 3: 311‒327.
• “Elected senate would replace House of Lords under Labour.” 2014. BBC. BBC News 1 (November 201): n. p. http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-29857849
• Gold, Tanya. 2016. “Who needs the House of Lords? Meet the peers rattling the Commons.” The Guardian (6 February): n.p. http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/feb/06/who-needs-house-of-lords-meet-peers-rattling-the-commons
• Hunter, Jennifer. 2014. “How Real Is Downton Abbey? A Study of the Real Downstairs.” Toronto Star (12 January): n.p. http://www.thestar.com/news/ insight/2014/01/12/how_real_is_downton_abbey_a_study_of_the_real_downstairs.html
• Jackson, Louise, A. 2011. “Sex, Religion, and the Law: The Regulation of Sexual Behaviors, 1820–1920.” A Cultural History of Sexuality in the Age of Empire. Ed. Chiara Baccalossi and Ivan Crozier. New York: Berg. 83‒100.
• Johnson, Meri Lisa. 2007. “Introduction. Ladies Love Your Box: The Rhetoric of Pleasure and Danger in Feminist Television Studies.” Third Wave Feminism and Television. Jane Puts It in a Box. Ed. Meri Lisa Johnson. London: I.B. Tauris. 1‒27.
• Jones, Claire. 2012. “Woman’s access to higher education: An overview (1860‒1948).” HerStoria http://herstoria.com/?p=535
• Letters. 2015. “The Tories, trade unions and British democracy under threat.” The Guardian (17 July): n.p. http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/jul/17/ the-tories-trade-unions-and-british-democracy-under-threat
• Mill, John Stuart. 1869. The Subjection of Women (edited with Mary Wollstonecraft, Vindication of the Rights of Woman). London: J.M. Dent & Sons Limited.
• Mougel, François-Charles. 2014. Une histoire du Royaume-Uni de 1900 à nos jours. Paris: Perrin.
• Sweney, Mark. 2010. “Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes to become a Tory peer.” The Guardian (19 November): n.p. http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/nov/19/downton-abbey-julian-fellowes-tory-peer
• White, Mark D., ed. 2012. Downton Abbey and Philosophy. The Truth Is Neither Here nor There. John Wiley and Sons Inc.: The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series, Book 23. E-Book.
• Wintour, Patrick. 2015. “Biggest crackdown on trade unions for 30 years launched by Conservatives.” The Guardian (15 July): n.p. http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/jul/15/trade-unions-conservative-off ensive-decades-strikes-labour
• Wollen, Tana. 1991. “Over our shoulders: nostalgic screen fi ctions for the 1980s.” Enterprise and Heritage. Crosscurrents of National Culture. Ed. John Corner and Sylvia Harvey. London: Routledge. 178‒193.
• Woolf, Virginia. 1967. “Memories of a Working Women’s Guild.” Collected Essays. Volume Four. Ed. Leonard Woolf. London: The Hogarth Press. 134‒148.
• Downton Abbey. Series One to Six. 2010–2015. Screenwriter Julian Fellowes. Prod. Carnival Film and Television Limited and Masterpiece.
• Upstairs Downstairs. 2010‒2012. Screenwriter Heidi Thomas. Prod. BBC Worldwide Limited.