Unmatchmaking Isobel Crawley

Isobel Crawley and Lord Merton on the local streets

Robert: It might be rather fun for her to reinvent herself as the great lady of the county and put us all in our proper place.  

Violet: Yes... I suppose it would be fun...

Why must Violet unmake the matchmaking work she had so diligently been working on at the end of Season 4?  At the start of Season 5, the Dowager Countess realizes she has made quite a blunder; if Lord Merton, recently widowed, proposed marriage to Isobel Crawley,suddenly her sparing partner would not be a part of the middle class.  She would be above Violet in rank. As Cora points out to her husband, if Isobel were to become Lady Merton, she would take up her place in a grand house, would have a living husband, and her rank or position in the county's society would alter greatly.  Isobel and Violet have always been equals in terms of temperament and spitfire, but to have her as an equal or possibly a superior in rank (as the title has passed onto Violet's son and therefore would be less potent than Isobel's potential position), would be beyond the pale.

Labour PM

The downstairs, as well as the upstairs, are all a buzz.England got its first ever labour prime minister, Ramsay MacDonald.  Prime Ministers are referred to as PMs, which are different than MPs, or Members of Parliament. The Labour Party is Britain's democratic socialist party.  It grew out of trade union movement, hence why the servants at Downton believe that Mr. MacDonald will be their voice. He was known as quite an orator.

Downton in 3D

The Daily Mail has a fascinating article on creating a 3D floor plan of Downton.  Of course, thanks to the wonders of Google, one can look at Highclere Castle's floor plan (the location used for filming), but this one is so interesting to examine.

Link:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2528645/Revealed-Downtons-intimate-secrets-3D.html

Keep Calm! They Quoted Pride and Prejudice!

Brenda Blethyn as Mrs. Bennet in the 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice

Lady Shackleton: A single peer with a good estate won't be unmarried long, if he doesn't want to be.

Lady Violet: You sound like Mrs. Bennet.

Downton just paid homage to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, and even the Dowager acknowledges it!

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife."                                                                    -Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

If you have not read this novel, and you are in love with Downton Abbey, do yourself a favor and read it.  Or, if you just aren't feeling up to reading, watch the 1995 BBC version starring Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth. It is about as word-for-word as a tv show could be and well worth your time.

Edith is the New Jane Eyre

The similarities between Lady Edith Crawley and Jane Eyre are quite remarkable as the plot of Downton goes forward.  Aside from the fact that Edith isn't a nanny (but she did get a job which is similar to Jane in the fact that many women didn't work), here are a few examples of where they line up.

1) Considered to be plain (but really isn't)

2) Has to be the sensible one

3) Not a social butterfly

4) Bit of a brooder

5) Feels the need to take on life's challenges by herself without outside help

6) Resident of England who likes the great outdoors

7) Falls in love with men much older than herself

8) Falls in love with a man who has a mentally unstable wife

9) Sleeps through fires that engulf her room (shares that with Thornton, not Jane Eyre)

Spoiler alert: After Jane nearly kills herself fleeing across the moors when she learns her fiancee is still married to a previous woman, her fiancee's estate burns down (thanks to his unhinged spouse), his wife dies in an accident, she becomes independently rich, she finds family that loves her, and she marries her Thornton.

"Reader, I married him" is the famous line written by Charlotte Bronte.  Perhaps poor Edith can catch a break.

Carson Said What?!

Mr. Carson: The nature of life is not permanence but flux.

Mrs. Hughes: Just so, even if it does sound fairly disgusting.

Poor Carson.  Just when he was being extremely respectable, he said a certain word. He was going for the definition of flux which means continuous motion, but Mrs. Hughes, being a woman and a bit of a tease around Mr. Carson when he has it coming, took it a different direction.  According to the Oxford English Dictionary, flux means a flowing, usually of bodily fluid such as blood.  Anyone who has read several of Eloisa James' Regency romances notes that this term comes up as a word for a lady's time of the month. No wonder Carson is shocked another term for period escaped his lips. Carson, being vulgar!  It's quite shocking.


"flux, n." OED Online. Oxford University Press, December 2014. Web. 5 January 2015.

Insult like a Dowager

The Dowager Countess and Violet Crawley are experts at the subtle art of British impertinence.  From Downton Abbey to Shakespeare to The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, British comedy is a combination dry humor and insults so perfectly given that they seem almost polite.

There really are only 2 steps to a proper, British snub.  Use them against coworkers, family or friends who are making you peevish but only sparingly.  Apply liberally and you might get stung. But should you wish to try your hand:

1) Give an insult, wrapped up in comedy and brevity

2) Laugh at your own genius

The laughing is key.  If you wish to look at it historically, the Dowager is one of the highest in rank in the room at any given time when filming Downton Abbey. A sense of propriety is naturally going to fill the air as everyone waits to take their cue from her.  It isn't funny until she deems it as such.  Therefore, when she adds her little titter, others at the table or in the the salon may join in. It probably works the same for when Dame Maggie Smith is on set.  At the beginning, when everyone is still new, ain't nobody laughing until Maggie Smith is laughing.