What I’ve Learned from Downton Abbey

Downton Abbey presents the fictitious lives of Lords, Ladies and servants at a typical English Abbey.

On the surface the plot illustrates the lives of the upper class family against a lower class working staff and the expectations and restrictions placed on each society.

More interestingly, the show gives audiences insight to just how much, or perhaps, just how little, society has changed in the last 100 years.

Downton Abbey & The Upper Class

The Upper Class’ views of the people below them, and the lower class’ understanding of the lives of those above them are still relevant to the world we live in today. Equally, then as now, while the upper class appear to have the freedom of wealth, they are as restricted in their ability to change as those without wealth. Custom, tradition and expectation dictate as much of their lives as a lack of wealth does for those in the Kitchen.

In Downton Abbey, as in society today, the fear of change and the unknown grip the lives of everyone, regardless of stature or wealth.