Downton Abbey

@Frank Apisa,

Oh! I thought you meant the heir to Lavinnia's (?) money.

He could show up.

But yes -- Patrick's (re)return would be a great twist!

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@ehBeth,

Here's the full video

http://video.pbs.org/video/2320059755

I watched it last night on tv. Very Interesting

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@boomerang,

Do you why we women button our cloth with our left hand and men with their right?
It goes back to the middle ages when men buttoned their own clothes which was naturally with the right hand. Ladies had a maid who of course also used her right hand and standing across from the lady the buttons were buttoned to the left seen from the lady´s view.

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@JPB,

Yeah, I watched that on PBS before the Season 3 premiere.

I had already known that the castle belonged to the family of Lord Carnarvon, the Earl who financed Howard Carter’s search of the Valley of the Kings…which lead to the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb.

The place is magnificent...and I am happy there is a way to keep estates like this available for people to look at...even considering the implications of the class system.

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@boomerang,

boomerang wrote:

So was the purpose more like the purpose behind giant American estates -- to show off your wealth? Privacy?

The aristocracy basically owned all of the property around the estate. The tenant farmers had to pay rent.

The whole thing is designed to provide wealth for the owners.

Lots of arguments are made in favor of the aristocracy - eugenics (kind of obviated by the inbreeding), an educated class, a managerial class, etc. All of the arguments are just apologia for vast wealth being held by a privileged few.

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@Frank Apisa,

Obviously, by the way, the writers of Downton Abbey decided to borrow lots of ideas from the events that actually happened to the people who lived at the estate.

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@DrewDad,

Quote:

Re: boomerang (Post 5222346)
boomerang wrote:

So was the purpose more like the purpose behind giant American estates -- to show off your wealth? Privacy?

The aristocracy basically owned all of the property around the estate. The tenant farmers had to pay rent.

The whole thing is designed to provide wealth for the owners.

Lots of arguments are made in favor of the aristocracy - eugenics (kind of obviated by the inbreeding), an educated class, a managerial class, etc. All of the arguments are just apologia for vast wealth being held by a privileged few.

Not sure I agree with the "All of the arguments...", but the majority of them certainly were.

In any case, the world has always been inhabited by the haves and the have-nots...and I guess the best thing to do is to enjoy some of what has been preserved of our overall history by the haves. Highclere Castle is impressive...and I'm happy it still exists.

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@ehBeth,

We have passed Highclere Castle this last year.

We didn't visit it, but since we visited about 12 castles during those four weeks (not counting those, we've visited the years before) I'm quite happy that Mrs. Walter didn't see the signs - she's addicted, too. Embarrassed

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@Frank Apisa,

I suppose there could be some validity to an argument for support of the arts, including architecture.

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@boomerang,

boomerang wrote:

So was the purpose more like the purpose behind giant American estates -- to show off your wealth? Privacy?

Actually,manor houses were just and only built as homes for owner (aka 'lord of the estate') of that manor. Thus, you find very small ones as well as very large ones - more or less depending on the seize of that manor.

On the Diamond Jubilee Day, we've had the change to get invited (after making the official) by a manor owner (he owns a "place", his wife directs it) to join them for the official Jubilee Parade and `Tea Treat` . It was quite nice ...

(A country magazine has a nice [and true!] report about this 'place' Part I - Part II)

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hadn't heard beforehand that Mathew was leavi
i can however, safely say he does indeed leave

but you'll have to wait for the special episode that was broadcast after the end of season 3 on Christmas day

curious to see were they go from here

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@Cycloptichorn,

And you know this how?

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@Finn dAbuzz,

Quote:

And you know this how?

Ummm....

...ummm...

...ah, never mind.

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@Frank Apisa,

Please, never mind Frank.

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@Finn dAbuzz,

Finn dAbuzz wrote:

And you know this how?

And here I could have sworn you didn't give a **** what I had to add to any conversation.

To answer your question, though, I studied the Feudal system quite a bit back in school and have continued my education on my own since then. Plus, I have a single functioning eye and at least 2/3rds a brain, which is really all one needs to see the truth in most instances.

Cycloptichorn

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@Cycloptichorn,

And asking you a question means I care?

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@djjd62,

I didn't know until I read it here that he ends up leaving either.

No more spoilers please!

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@boomerang,

aaw, boomer, I just hit your profile button rather than your reply button to open this box, and yes, you are interesting!!
I think the lawyer said he'd invested his money in the Grand Trunk Railway and lost it all. If I heard that right, it is in fact a real railroad--my dad used to ride the Grand Trunk commuter train out of Detroit to the suburbs every night (Grand Trunk ran into the US too). One of the last steam lines on the continent, huge black smoky steamers thundering thru my small town in the 50s, an absolutely lovely railway, so it did in fact last until well after the next war--I suppose we could actually google the history and find out if investors did lose everythin after WWI in the historical record--I'm debating doing that, which would tell us whether it's gonna go down or whether the writers can pull another switcheroo and save Downton because the RR did survive, but I'm not sure I want to ruin my suspense with actual history.

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@Frank Apisa,

Frank Apisa wrote:

Obviously, by the way, the writers of Downton Abbey decided to borrow lots of ideas from the events that actually happened to the people who lived at the estate.

I read an interesting blog the other day discussing the jewishness (possibly) of Lady Grantham. Her mother (Shirley Maclaine) is "Isadora Levinson, a dry goods multi-millionaire from Cincinnati". The blog goes on...

Quote:

Lady Cora’s bio goes on to say that, “she arrived in England with her mother in 1888 at the age of 20, and was engaged to Robert by the end of her first season.”

Those of you who count yourselves among the series’ legion fans, as I do, know from dialogue in past episodes that Lord Grantham married the heiress Cora to avail himself of her fortune, needed to pay the upkeep on the castle he inherited. He would not have been the only European man possessing title and land, but little cash, to do so. According to this New York Times article, many newly monied American girls married men who could make them instant aristocrats. They included Brooklyn-born Jennie Jerome, who would, about 8 months after her wedding to Englishman Lord Randolph Spencer-Churchill, become the mother of Winston Churchill.

So could Lady Cora be Jewish, at least by birth? Historian of American Jewry Jonathan Sarna says, in the Tablet story, that the answer is yes.

Read more: http://blogs.forward.com/sisterhood-blog/150472/updated-the-jewess-of-downton-abbey/#ixzz2HWwBW3JU

1 Reply

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