Nanny West vs. Thomas

Anna, Lady Mary, Nanny West and the adorable Master George

 

Nanny West has been sacked within one episode, and I am certain most of us said good riddance to her as soon as we saw how she treated dear little Sybil.  However, this does not explain why she has gotten her feathers all ruffled over the way Thomas treats her- after all, Thomas treats everyone quite terribly who he doesn't take a shine to, and that is the better of the two options. 

"The real discomfort of a governess's position in a private family arises from the fact that it is undefined.  She is not a relation, not a guest, not a mistress, not a servant- but something made up of all.  No one knows exactly how to treat her."
                                                                                -Elizabeth Missing Sewell, Principles of Education

Does Nanny West have the right to boss Thomas around?  Possibly.  In a house this size, she would have soon had staff under her, a nursery maid or a nursery cook who would be preparing the dinners for the nursery so Mrs. Patmore could focus on the main dinners (children did not dine with their parents until they could deport themselves with grace and elegance and altogether be miniatures of their parents).  So if she had staff under her, she would be at the same level of say Mr. Carson, Mrs. Hughes or Mrs. Patmore.  Even without staff, she reported directly to the family, not to the head butler or housekeeper, ranking her higher up.  Bossing anyone isn't going to win friends, but she did have a right to send messages with Thomas so that she could be back with her little charges sooner.  However, she would have appeared so infrequently from the nursery until the children were older that one can hardly blame Thomas for taking offence at being given orders by a stranger.