What divides the upper class from the lower class? Is it the number of rooms, the fine silks, the posture? In England, a great social divide can be displayed simply through the accent one adopts. This can be seen by the revolutionary singers, The Beatles, when they refused to drop their Liverpool accents when they hit the spotlight for a posh accent.
In Downton Abbey, each cast member must adopt a certain accent. I referred to the Dialog Blog for these details:
Downstairs- Yorkshire, a working-class feel to it
Upstairs- Received Pronunciation, working to make every vowel superbly sophisticated
Dame Maggie Smith- same as upstairs, but set back a little ways in a few of her pronunciations
Elizabeth McGovern- an American in England playing an American in England from a different era
For full details, please reference the Dialect Blog.
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